By The Star Staff
The Puerto Rico Court of Appeals, with a majority of Panel II, on Wednesday upheld articles 6.1 and 7.9 of the 2020 Electoral Code, and refuted the allegations of the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC by its Spanish initials) and Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) about alleged violations of their fundamental rights.
“The provisions concerned are drafted in a neutral and general manner, without discriminating against any person or political group,” the panel’s presiding judge, Abelardo Bermúdez Torres, and Judge Giselle Romero García said in their joint statement.
The panel of judges ruled that the questioned regulations do not create a “classification of suspicion because of political ideas,” and respect the constitutional guarantee of equality before the law. They argued that the measures seek to protect the integrity, equity and efficiency of electoral processes, avoiding vote manipulation and voter confusion.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge José Johel Monge Gómez wrote that the appellants, the MVC and PIP, lacked standing and that the controversy was not ripe to be evaluated.