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Hillary Clinton has won the Puerto Rico Democratic primary, where voters in the U.S. territory streamed to the polls to select a Democratic nominee for president amid accusations of voter suppression, the Associated Press reported.
There were 60 pledged delegates in Puerto Rico, the same number Clinton needs to clinch the 2,383 required to win the Democratic nomination. As results continue to come in, she has secured at least 31 of the delegates.
Because of austerity measures to deal with a major debt crisis, the U.S. territory opened less than a third of the originally announced voting stations, drawing criticism from the Sanders campaign, which is depending on high voter turnout in poorer areas.
The spokesperson for the campaign in Puerto Rico, Betsy Franceschini, also said that its workers were denied certification by the Democratic Party to campaign in prisons. A local paper also reported that the Ñetas, a gang that originated in a Puerto Rican prison, are threatening to kill inmates that vote Sanders.
Two members of the New Progressive Party, the main opposition party advocating becoming a U.S. state, were arrested on Sunday, reported Caribbean Business. They allegedly tried to block supporters of the rival gubernatorial pre-candidate, Pedro Pierluisi, from the voting station. Others may also be arrested for similar actions against a candidate for district representative, according to the publication.
Roberto Prats, head of the party in Puerto Rico, said he was “appalled” at the “preposterous” accusations. Prats is a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton and co-chaired her Puerto Rico campaign in 2008.
The island, which is in the midst of a US$70 billion debt crisis—with 45 percent of its population living in poverty—is an unincorporated U.S. territory, which means it cannot vote in the general elections.
It will award 60 delegates in the primary, seven already pledged. Clinton needs about 70 more delegates to clinch the nomination, given that the currently pledged superdelegtes would keep their allegiance.
The Sanders strategy is to win as many votes as possible, even if it can't win the pledged delegate race, in order to strengthen the pitch to superdelegates currently backing Clinton that he is the better candidate to face Donald Trump in the general election.
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