By The Star Staff
Thousands of Puerto Ricans showed up at the polls early Tuesday morning in what some described as a historic election as, for the first time, a pro-independence candidate and a pro-statehood candidate were vying for a victory in the governor’s.
At the forefront of the race was Jenniffer González Colón, the candidate for the New Progressive Party (NPP) and in second place was Juan Dalmau Ramírez, the candidate of an alliance formed between the Puerto Rican Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC by its initials in Spanish). For the first time in the history of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP), its candidate, Jesús Manuel Ortiz González, was expected to land in third place and Javier Jiménez Pérez, the conservative Dignity Project (DP by its initials in Spanish) candidate, was expected to be in fourth place.
Voters also had a chance to vote for U.S. president in a symbolic way and in a status plebiscite for the options of statehood, free association and independence. The PDP advised its voters to leave the status vote ballot blank.
Upon arriving at Aurora Waldorf School in Cupey, Ortiz and his wife cut lines and then had problems submitting his ballot in the vote counting machine.
“The reality is that, unfortunately, we anticipated many problems like this throughout Puerto Rico, throughout the day,” he said.
The polling station did not record any incidents.
Ortiz added that “this will be a close election between González [Colón] and me.”
Pablo José Hernández Rivera, the PDP’s candidate for resident commissioner, said he waited over three hours to cast his vote at Perpetuo Socorro Academy in a process he called deficient.
Dalmau, the Alliance candidate for governor, and his wife, Griselle Morales, voted at CeDín in Cupey. He and his wife, who was recently hospitalized after suffering a stroke, told people to go out and vote despite the rain and the setbacks that the different polling stations may present. Their children were also present.
Voters at CeDín cheered Dalmau when he arrived, calling him “my governor.” Dalmau said election day was the true poll, expressing confidence in a victory.
“We are a greater force,” Dalmau’s son Gabriel said. “I have no words to describe it; I am extremely proud. We are going to give it our all.”
At Francisco Matías Lugo in Carolina, voters said the lines moved smoothly and officials even handed out meals. One voter interviewed by the STAR said he voted for Dalmau and for Hernández Rivera for resident commissioner and for Democrat Kamala Harris as U.S. president. Asked about the status vote, he said, “I don’t know, I just marked an X.”
Clara López, a 67-year-old voter, said she voted for the NPP on all of the ballots. She said she voted for Harris as president. However, 43-year-old José Santiago said he voted for Republican Donald Trump for president, for statehood and for the NPP in the remaining races. He also said he voted for incumbent PDP mayor José Aponte Dalmau to retain his post in Carolina.
A 27-year-old waitress, who declined to provide her name, said she voted for Dalmau because she was “sick and tired of the corruption.” She said she voted for the MVC on the other ballots.
Voters at Gilberto Concepción de Gracia School in Carolina said they did not experience difficulties. One staff worker said that while at the start of the day they encountered some problems with the counting machines, they were resolved very quickly.
Sixty-eight year-old Gloria Ortiz said she voted for González Colón and the NPP. However, José Cintrón said he voted for Dalmau for governor and for Harris for president. None of the people interviewed by the STAR said they voted for a Dignity Project candidate.
Nonetheless, there were radio reports to the effect that the DP had a lot of support in San Sebastián and in Arecibo.
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