By The Star Staff
San Juan Judge Raúl Candelario López on Thursday upheld the determination of the State Elections Commission (SEC), which in mid-February disqualified activist and former gubernatorial candidate Eliezer Molina Pérez as an independent candidate for the island Senate.
The judicial ruling indicated that Molina Pérez had to comply with the requirements established by the Electoral Code to become a candidate, “including to undergo tests for the detection of controlled substances.”
“We find it necessary to emphasize that from the documents presented by Molina Pérez and the SEC, it clearly and unequivocally shows that the petitioner did not have all of the detection tests for controlled substances and that he did not submit the documents required by the provisions of the Electoral Code,” adds the ruling.
Molina Pérez’s legal representation, headed by lawyer Juan Antonio Corretjer, relied on the fact that, on the one hand, Molina Pérez submitted all the documents required to be a candidate and that he was authorized by the SEC, as of Jan. 3, to collect endorsements, a procedure he completed successfully.
Meanwhile, the SEC pointed out that Molina Pérez was allowed to collect endorsements on a conditional basis. In other words, he would be validated and certified as a candidate if he completed all of the documents and demonstrated with certifications that the required documents had been requested on or before the deadline of Feb. 2. In fact, his lawyers said he delivered all the documents before Jan. 31.