A supporter waves a flag of the Puerto Rican Independence Party holding a campaign poster promoting Citizen Victory Movement mayoral candidate Manuel Natal during a caravan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Friday, November 1, 2024.
Alejandro Granadillo/AP
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Alejandro Granadillo/AP
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico is in the midst of a historic election, regardless of which of the top two gubernatorial candidates wins.
If Jennifer Gonzalez of the pro-national New Progressive Party wins Tuesday’s election, it will be the first time in the island’s history that the party has secured three consecutive terms.
If Juan Dalmau, who is running for the Puerto Rican Independence Party and Citizen Victory Movement, wins, it would be the first victory for a candidate who does not represent either of the two major parties that have dominated the island’s politics for decades. .
Following González and Dalmau in the polls is Jesús Manuel Ortiz of the People’s Democratic Party, who supports the island’s territorial status. Javier Jimenez of Project Dignity, a conservative party founded in 2019, is also running.
For decades, the New Progressive Party and the People’s Democratic Party won at least 90% of all votes, but in 2016 things started to change, with emerging parties winning more voters amid economic and political turmoil. Collected.
“This is a very big change,” said political analyst and university professor Jorge Schmidt Nieto.
delay in results
Results are not expected to be released until later Tuesday, and analysts have warned it could take several days. In the 2020 election, it took authorities four days to announce provisional results.
Puerto Rico’s state elections board is still counting more than 220,000 early and absentee ballots, and officials from various political parties say the process is progressing slowly. Vote counting began more than two weeks later than usual.
Jessica Padilla, the commission’s acting chair, said at a news conference that about 40% of the votes had been counted as of Monday.
“This verification process is something we do not take lightly,” she said.
More than 5,000 of Puerto Rico’s approximately 7,400 inmates have also voted, but it is unclear how many of those votes have been counted.
The commission and other officials also continue to face accusations of election crimes, including from people who say they received confirmation of early voting without requesting it.
Meanwhile, generators have been dispatched to more than 20 polling places to ensure power, given the chronic power outages that have plagued Puerto Rico in recent years.
Situational questions and symbolic votes
On Tuesday, voters will be asked for the seventh time about Puerto Rico’s political status. The non-binding referendum presents three options: statehood, independence, and independence through free association, and will involve negotiations on issues such as foreign affairs, American citizenship, and the use of the US dollar.
Regardless of the outcome, any change in status must be approved by the U.S. Congress.
Additionally, Puerto Ricans will be able to support Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in a symbolic vote Tuesday if they wish. Although Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, people on the island are not allowed to vote in U.S. presidential elections.
Nearly 2 million voters are eligible to participate in Tuesday’s election, but it remains to be seen how many will participate. Voter apathy has dominated recent elections.
