The number of votes in the Guánica primary race begins with controversy

The opening of 30 briefcases for the contest for mayor of Guánica began on Thursday in the building of the Operations Center of the State Electoral Commission (EEC), but currently four of the five election commissioners have not received official certificate Contains the number of votes obtained by each candidate and which should have been the basis for the official certification of Ismael “Titi” Rodríguez as the winner.

“We all work with numbers that were released based on the minutes, but it is not the final certification. Yesterday OSIPE (Office of Information System and Electronic Processing of the EEC) promised to deliver exactly what is called account registration for each polling station to have real numbers, but the ideal is certification so that someone knows clearly, “said the commissioner electoral party of the Popular Democratic Party, Gerardo “Toñito” Cruz.

His Puerto Rican Independence Party counterpart Roberto Iván Aponte said yesterday, after a meeting to discuss the rules that will govern the counting of votes today, that he had requested the certification of EEC Deputy Secretary Felipe Velázquez. This morning, he said, they gave him a certification, dated December 23, in which, judging by the number of candidates, the winner of the competition is the candidate by direct nomination, Edgardo Cruz Vélez.

“Regarding this process, in order to open the briefcases, it is necessary to have a specific number of votes for each of the candidates and this is not available. Let’s look at some blind numbers. With what numbers was the candidate of the Popular Party certified. We do not know. It’s crazy and why so secret. That’s what makes you suspicious, “Aponte asked.

“I did not receive the certification from the president to explain the number of votes for Edgardo Cruz,” he added.

The electoral complaint of the Victoria Ciudadana Movement, Olvin Valentín, made the same complaint.

“The only document I have is one that put Edgardo Cruz on top. But then that changed. These new numbers were not provided, “Valentin said.

He stressed that I do not know the exact difference in votes between each candidate who ran for mayor of Guánica.

However, the electoral commissioner of the New Progressive Party, Héctor Joaquín Sánchez, said his counterparts were wrong. He argued that the official certification had already been delivered to all election commissioners by e-mail.

“I have evidence,” he said, but so far Sanchez has not provided certification and e-mail to the environment.

The number of votes in Guánica comes today after the Supreme Court ordered the EEC to count all the votes cast by the voter on behalf of Edgardo Cruz Vélez, regardless of whether or not he marked the direct nomination box with an X.

The EEC certified Rodríguez as the winner in December last year, but it was initially proven that he won by a margin of 24 votes and later by 52 votes.