By The Star Staff
Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Secretary General Gerardo “Toñito” Cruz Maldonado, along with Ernesto Cabrera Fuentes, the PDP candidate for mayor of Guaynabo, announced Tuesday that former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares and his wife Beatriz I. Areizaga García will be challenged under Article 5.4 of the Electoral Code of Puerto Rico.
The challenge calls into question the validity of the couple’s electoral addresses registered in Precinct 07 of Guaynabo.
“We are requesting that both challenges be declared admissible and that both Rosselló Nevares and his wife Areizaga García be inactivated from the electoral registry, based on the fact that both do not meet the requirements to be considered voters domiciled in Puerto Rico,” Cruz Maldonado said at a press conference. “Rosselló said in a radio interview last week that he would be voting in the primary for [Gov. Pedro] Pierluisi. Today the candidate for mayor of Guaynabo will be submitting these challenges with proof that Rosselló is not qualified to vote in that event.”
Cruz Maldonado, who also is the PDP alternate electoral commissioner, said that in a recusal report submitted with the request, it is indicated that both Rosselló Nevares and Areizaga García had established their residence in the State of Virginia in August 2019.
“The evidence presented and verified during the 2021 judicial process clearly shows that both Rosselló and Areizaga do not meet the requirements of the Electoral Code to be considered voters domiciled in the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico,” Cruz Maldonado added.
Cabrera Fuentes said meanwhile that Rosselló Nevares’ case has multiple aspects that point to the fact that his main residence is in Virginia, including owning property and participating in daily activities as a member of several local gyms.
“During Rosselló’s own testimony during the Rosario Rodríguez vs. Rosselló Nevárez trial, SJ2021CV03543, [he] admitted that since the end of 2019, he had been working in consulting in that state and in Washington, D.C.,” Cabrera Fuentes said.
The mayoral candidate added that Areizaga García has only been seen in Puerto Rico on specific occasions since 2019.
“This pattern of behavior and the property and residence records confirm the basis for the Commission’s recusal,” he said.
“Today, none of the challenged voters maintain an address in either of the two precincts of the Municipality of Guaynabo, so we demand that they be removed as voters with the right to vote in our municipality,” Cabrera Fuentes said.
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