The Puerto Rico Election Commission discovered more than 100 boxes and briefcases containing uncounted ballots a week after the U.S. general election, raising concerns from voters about the validity of some races.
In a press conference Tuesday, Francisco Rosado, the President of the commission, said the briefcases were found in a secured vault and because of an underfunded and understaffed administrative board, there was a “disorganization in the handling of material.”
Officials initially claimed that there were close to 182 briefcases filled with a range of three to 500 uncounted ballots. Rosado assured the people of Puerto Rico that every vote would be counted and that they should “trust the transparency of the process.”
The election commissioner for Puerto Rico’s Independence Party, Robert Iván Aponte, said in an interview that he expects the newly discovered votes to be counted by Thursday. According to Aponte, the ballots could affect the race for mayor of Culebra, a popular tourist island east of Puerto Rico. He and other election officials blame the election mishap on Gov. Wanda Vázquez’s approval of new laws softening the restrictions for early voting and removing departments within the elections commission, leading to the departure of longtime officials in high-ranking positions.
This year, Puerto Rico received more than 220,000 absentee and early voting ballots, setting a new record for the U.S. territory. Aponte said that after the election counting is finished there will be a “serious evaluation” of how to move forward with all the misplaced ballots.
The case of the missing ballots has re-sparked an ongoing conversation on social media regarding the long history of voter suppression in Puerto Rico. This year, dozens of electoral precincts in Puerto Rico didn’t receive their ballots before August’s primary election. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ordered the elections to be suspended and the process completed a week later.
they found over 174 boxes of uncounted ballots in puerto rico lol voter suppression is so real
— 🇵🇷 (@moisturizednerd) November 10, 2020
The Puerto Rico Statehood Referendum was also on the ballot on election day as a legislatively referred statute. It asked voters whether or not Puerto Rico should seek statehood and was approved with 623,053 Puerto Ricans voted “yes.” According to Ballotpedia, the governor was authorized to appoint a seven-member commission to represent Puerto Rico in matters and negotiations related to achieving statehood to present a transition plan to Congress and the President. Although the referendum is non-binding it revealed Puerto Rican’s growing desire to become the 51st state.