Electoral comptroller issues rules for Dorado mayoral race

Electoral Comptroller Walter Vélez Martínez

By THE STAR STAFF

Electoral Comptroller Walter Vélez Martínez announced over the weekend that he has issued special rules for the campaign to fill the seat for mayor of Dorado.

The official issued Determination OCE-DET-2025-05 for the campaign during the special election, as called by the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) in accordance with Act 58-2020.

“Our goal is to establish clear and proportionate rules for a brief campaign while ensuring transparency in political financing,” Vélez Martínez said in a written statement. “This special framework includes a limit on anonymous donations and waives the requirement for candidates with existing campaign committees to create an additional committee. We are committed to protecting voters’ rights to clean and supervised processes while also facilitating compliance for candidates.”

Due to the expedited nature of the process, candidates who already have a registered campaign committee will not need to establish a “Special Election Committee” to participate in the election. The measure aims to reduce administrative burdens without compromising the oversight set forth by Law 222-2011.

Specifically, the Office of the Electoral Commissioner has established a limit allowing each candidate to raise up to $1,700 in anonymous donations during the special election campaign period, which ends on Nov. 16. After the campaign concludes, unsuccessful candidates will revert to the general donation limits applicable to the office they are contesting in their respective election cycle. All other legal and regulatory provisions remain in effect.

The determination also requires the PDP electoral commissioner to officially notify all candidates participating in the special election about the aforementioned rules. Any party adversely affected by this determination may appeal to the Court of Appeals within 30 days, as outlined in Article 11,000 of Law 222-2011.