The candidate by direct nomination predominates in the race for mayor of Guánica

After a long day yesterday, which lasted until the early hours of the morning, the State Electoral Commission (EEC) concluded the counting of votes in the electoral contest for the mayor of Guánica and certified the candidate by direct nomination, Edgardo Cruz Vélez, as Victor .

In this way, Cruz Vélez makes history by becoming the second person to access the position of elective mayor through the direct nomination mechanism. The first to do so was Santos “El Negro Ortiz”, who in 1988, by direct nomination, became mayor of Cabo Rojo.

According to official EEC certification, Cruz Vélez won by 2,411 votes against 2,356 for Ismael “Titi” Rodríguez. Rodríguez, who is a member of the Democratic People’s Party, was ousted last Monday, using the previous certification provided by the EEC as a basis and without waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision that an electoral process was before the examination.

The highest court ruled this week that the EEC should count all votes for Cruz Vélez on those ballots in which his name appeared, regardless of whether or not the voter ticked the box corresponding to the direct nomination.

The EEC carried out this work yesterday, which lasted until dawn today. The number of votes for the mayor’s race was full of controversy and constant change.

Cruz Vélez, in a telephone interview with The new day and on his way to Guánica, he said he had passed through a “Cross Station.”

“This ended at 4:30 in the morning and we survived 74 calendar days, from November 3 until today, at the Cross Stations. Nobody should go through this process in the next electoral cycle “, said the mayor of Guanica.

He acknowledged that he will now have to make the transition process with Rodríguez, who previously did the same with former Guánica mayor Santos Seda.

Cruz Vélez indicated that today I presented to the courts the contestation of Rodríguez’s certification, an action necessary for the annulment of the previous certification he obtained from the EEC. The electoral body, once it issues a certification, cannot cancel it. There must be a challenge for certification for the EEC to continue, as explained by the substitute chairman of the electoral body, Jessika Padilla.

“Today I succeeded (the challenge) because it had to include a certification from the EEC with the number of votes obtained,” explained Cruz Vélez, who before deciding to run for mayor of Guánica by direct nomination tried to be the candidate official of the New Progressive Party (PNP) and after the dignity of the project.

Just yesterday, the PNP electoral commissioner, Héctor Joaquín Sánchez, had advanced to The new day that Cruz Vélez was the winner of the Guánica contest.

More controversy in court

But Rodriguez announced, through his lawyer, former election commissioner Lind Orlando Merle Feliciano, that he will go to court. He emphasized that the EEC, in a motion submitted to the courts as part of the case submitted by Cruz Vélez, had certified that “No more votes were cast and suddenly 38 more votes appeared at dawn. This is not our statement, the minutes are there and we are going to court so that the electoral process is counted correctly and responsibly.”.

Merle Feliciano claimed that in the universe of votes registered in the general elections of last November 3, 1,899 votes were registered in the regular school, but after counting yesterday’s votes, 1,955 votes appear.

“We claim that the final votes for Edgardo Cruz Vélez are 2,341 and not 2,411, with 2,386 for Ismael ‘Titi’ Rodríguez, for a difference of 45 votes. The whole situation was extremely irregular. To give an example, for the certification of the mayor Ismael ‘Titi’ Rodríguez, CEE lasted 6 days, and for Edgardo Cruz it was issued immediately “, he said.

The challenge of Guánica City Hall certification is not the only one. There are also challenges for the mayors of Aguadilla, Culebra, Barranquitas and San Juan. All candidates who lost the mayoral contests have until Friday, to object, as provided by the Electoral Code in accordance with the ten days it provides after the issuance of official certifications and considering that they were issued by the EEC on 5 January.