A billboard promoting Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement gubernatorial candidate Juan Dalmau towers over a highway, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. For decades, the New Progressive Party…
A billboard promoting Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement gubernatorial candidate Juan Dalmau towers over a highway, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. For decades, the New Progressive Party and the Popular Democratic Party held an iron grip on the island’s electoral system.
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Alejandro Granadillo/AP
2024 Election Results Expected to be Delayed
“There has been a major shift in Puerto Rican politics,” said Jorge Schmidt Nieto, a political analyst and professor. “The dominance of the New Progressive Party and the Popular Democratic Party is being challenged in ways we haven’t seen in decades.”
Despite heavy rain and flash flood warnings in San Juan and other parts of the island over recent days, voter turnout remained steady.
Polls opened midmorning, and early reports indicated that hundreds were already waiting in line.
However, the results of the election are expected to be delayed, with experts predicting that it could take several days before the full tally is announced.
In the 2020 election, it took Puerto Rico’s State Elections Commission four days to release preliminary results, and analysts expect similar delays this time.
On Monday, the commission was still processing more than 220,000 early and absentee ballots, a count that has been delayed due to logistic issues.
Jessika Padilla said around 40 percent of the early votes had been counted by the start of the week.
“This validation process is one that we are not going to take lightly,” she said, stressing the importance of accuracy in the count.
Are Elections in Puerto Rico Straightforward?
Over 5,000 prison inmates—out of about 7,400 incarcerated individuals—have also cast their votes, though it remains unclear how many of those ballots have been processed.
In addition, multiple parties have raised concerns about irregularities, including allegations that some voters received early voting confirmations they never requested.
The State Elections Commission has also deployed backup generators to over two dozen polling stations to ensure the process continues smoothly amid Puerto Rico’s ongoing power grid issues, which have plagued the island for years.
The upcoming election could test whether the rising influence of smaller parties will drive greater turnout, or if the traditional two-party dominance will persist.
This article contains additional reporting from The Associated Press
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Publish date : 2024-11-05 03:03:00
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