The EEC will inspect the minutes of the elections for Guánica City Hall

The race for Guánica’s mayoralty could gain some clarity on Monday, when the State Electoral Commission (EEC) examines the minutes of the event and grants, in accordance with a ruling by Judge Anthony Cuevas Ramos, certain votes in favor of the independent candidate. Edgardo Cruz Velez.

However, the electoral representative of the popular candidate for the southern city council, Lind Merle Feliciano, argued that even if all the votes recorded by direct nomination were given to Cruz Vélez, Ismael “Titi” Rodríguez Ramos would still prevail as new mayor, ousting Santos Seda penepé.

“Even if you give him 100% of the votes by direct nomination, he does not exceed the number of Tití Rodríguez“, Said Merle Feliciano.

Rodríguez Ramos was preliminarily certified as mayor of Guánica, which gave him the right to initiate the transition process with the Seda team.

The EEC gave Rodríguez Ramos 2,386 votes with 100% of the schools counted. Meanwhile, the agency’s website does not reflect any votes in favor of Cruz Vélez, although 2,362 appear in the ballot box for direct nomination.

In the last days, on Thursday, Cuevas Ramos decided that all the votes that could be related to the figure of Cruz Vélez, including different variants of his name, should be granted in his favor, even if the voter did not put a mark in the box that appeared in the ballot paper. However, he said that a request by Cruz Vélez to reduce the votes cast in the mixed way from the other candidates.

Cruz Vélez argued that the granting of these votes was in conflict with the text of the new electoral law, but the magistrate decided that this controversy was not part of an EEC resolution that Cruz Vélez wanted to challenge in court.

“In this case, we must detach ourselves from a textual interpretation, so that the voter’s intention prevails. Direct balloting differs from other types of voting in that it requires the voter to write the name of a person who is not a candidate in order to vote. The essence of this type of vote is the name of the candidate, so its validity cannot be conditioned by the fact whether or not it has a brand next to it “, said Cuevas Ramos in his sentence.

However, Merle Feliciano indicated that Rodríguez Ramos should soon be certified as mayor of Guánica.

“After checking the minutes of the 14 units of the Guánica 48 section, because it is not a recount, the number of these votes (given to Cruz Vélez) will not make a difference in the final result. The mistake was to point out that the 2,362 correspond to Edgardo Cruz and that is not what the EEC certifies, “Merle Feliciano told El Nuevo Día.” We will coordinate on Monday to check the minutes, “he added.