Puerto Ricans Go to the Polls to Elect Their Authorities
Puerto Ricans heading to a polling station, Nov. 5, 2024. X/ @ElNuevoDia
November 5, 2024 Hour: 10:42 am
They will also choose between annexation to the U.S., independence, or sovereignty in free association.
On Tuesday, Puerto Ricans began voting in a general election that is expected to be historic due to the tight race between the ruling New Progressive Party (PNP) and the Country Alliance (Alianza de Pais).
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Polling places will be open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm for citizens to elect a governor, representatives, senators, and mayors of the island. At many polling stations in the metropolitan area, dozens of people were lined up before the official opening to cast their votes, despite heavy rain.
The candidates for governor are Jenniffer Gonzalez (PNP), Juan Dalmau (Country Alliance), Jesus Manuel Ortiz (Popular Democratic Party), and Javier Jimenez (Project Dignity).
According to a poll published on Sunday by the main local newspaper, El Nuevo Dia, Gonzalez is projected to win the governorship (37 percent), followed by Dalmau (29 percent), Ortiz (22 percent), and Jimenez (7 percent).
However, in a previous survey, the newspaper El Vocero only gave Gonzalez 31 percent, resulting in a virtual tie with Dalmau. If the Country Alliance candidate wins, it would be the first time in Puerto Rico that a pro-independence candidate, not part of the two main parties, achieves the governorship.
The Country Alliance, made up of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) and the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC), has garnered significant popular support and endorsements from well-known artists like Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin, and Residente.
Even if the Country Alliance secure a second position in the 2025 election, it will have a resounding success, given that the PNP and the PPD are the parties that have alternated in power for decades in Puerto Rico, a Free Associated State of the United States.
Amid this closely contested race, fears of fraud have also emerged, especially after a court approved a request from the PNP to allow the counting of early votes even if there is no representation from all political parties in the process.
In this election, Puerto Ricans will also vote on a referendum regarding the political status of the island, choosing between statehood (annexation to the U.S.), independence, or sovereignty in free association, although it is non-binding because it does not have the approval of Washington.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
