In September 2024, the American Civil Rights Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction, as well as a declaratory judgment, allowing potential voters to register, through October 6.[5] On October 1, the US District Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Rights Union (ACLU). The Court declined to intervene in Puerto Rico's electoral processes or grant the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction. The American Civil Rights Union (ACLU) has failed to demonstrate that the September 21 voter registration deadline constitutes an unconstitutional disenfranchisement, or a manifest injustice, that justifies the intrusion of the United States federal government, into the election administration of the State of Puerto Rico.[6]
On October 7, 2024, the New Progressive Party (PNP) requested the court to order the State Commission on Elections to “immediately validate all applications for mail-in and advance ballots” that were not processed within two business days.[7] However, shortly after, the PNP canceled his trial in which he requested the vote by correspondence without verification, and processed in cash, while his hearing was already scheduled.[8]
On October 8, 2024, Electoral Commissioner Aníbal Vega Borges requested the court to immediately validate all applications for postal and advance voting received and not processed within the established deadline.[9]
The State Commission on Elections received approximately 142,000 early voting applications.[10] The commission's plenary session had agreed to start counting early votes on 11 October, but that date was aborted after the sending of such votes was delayed by more than a week. There is no official date for the start of counting of this vote.[11]
On October 15, 2024, the State Commission on Elections authorized the participation of the American Civil Liberties Union as election observers in the polls.[12]
On October 22, 2024, the PNP filed a complaint against members of the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana, for alleged violation of the electoral code, after having created an electronic platform for searching for voter numbers.[14]
On October 28, 2024, the State Commission on Elections accepted a request from the Popular Democratic Party for the Absentee and Early Voting Administrative Board to review envelopes containing early mail-in voting ballots, where the legitimacy of the process was called into question.[15]
On November 4, 2024, the Puerto Rican Independence Party, the Proyecto Dignidad and the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana, request the State Commission on Elections that once the general elections are over, a recount of all early ballots be conducted to ensure that all marks made by the voter have been counted correctly.[16] On the same day, a judge of the San Juan Court of First Instance ordered the State Commission on Elections to continue "without interruption" the counting of early votes, thus opening the door to the process taking place without the presence of representatives of all the conflicting parties.[17]
On November 26, 2024, the PPD party requested an investigation by the State Election Commission (SEC) into allegations of irregularities regarding votes cast by mail, after alleged irregularities were detected in early voting sent by mail by voters.[18]
On November 27, 2024, the San Juan District Court ordered the Puerto Rico State Electoral Commission (CEE) to count the mail-in votes of some voters who voted anonymously. The CEE will have to count and assign hundreds of ballots from voters even if they reside in the United States and not Puerto Rico, and others who voted in Puerto Rico, including the envelope of those who did not request early or mail-in voting or those who have died in the meantime since the election.[19]
On December 3, 2024, the Citizen Victory Movement denounces the irregularities and attacks that tarnish the transparency of these elections, it also denounces the State Electoral Commission (CEE) in the voting process, it also denounces the order to count postal votes without validating the exact address of the voters.[20]
On December 7, 2024, the State Electoral Commission (CEE) orders the allocation of 4,440 ballots from all electoral districts in Puerto Rico, arrested since October for not having duly complied with the requirement of validation of the identity of the voter. The Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) and the Alliance, appeal to the Court of First Instance of San Juan to review the decision of the State Electoral Commission (CEE).[21]
On December 18, 2024, the PPD announced that it would contest the results of the mail-in ballot before the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.[22]
General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. After a count by the State Commission of Elections, the winner was inaugurated to a four-year term as Governor of Puerto Rico on January 2, 2005.
Jenniffer Aydin González Colón is a Puerto Rican politician who is the governor-elect of Puerto Rico and currently serves as the 20th resident commissioner of Puerto Rico. González has served in leadership positions in the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (PNP) and in the Republican Party of the United States. These positions have included being the chairwoman of the Puerto Rico Republican Party, speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, and vice-chair of the PNP. González is the second-youngest person to be elected Resident Commissioner and the first woman to hold the role.
General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government that would serve for the next four years, including the governor, resident commissioner and members of the Legislative Assembly. A status referendum was held on the same date.
The 2008 New Progressive Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the New Progressive Party (PNP) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico, namely the position of governor, for the 2008 general elections. Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño was selected as the nominee at the primary elections held on March 9, 2008. He would go on to win the 2008 general election as well.
The 2012 New Progressive Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the New Progressive Party (PNP) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico for the 2012 general elections. They were held on March 18, 2012 and coincided with the Republican Party primaries in the island.
A referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico was held in Puerto Rico on November 6, 2012. It was the fourth referendum on status to be held in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has been an unincorporated territory of the United States since the Spanish–American War in 1898.
José A. "Josian" Santiago Rivera is a Puerto Rican politician. He became the mayor of the municipality of Comerío as a member of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) at the 2000 general elections, and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008. In 2010 Santiago became the president of the Asociación de Alcaldes de Puerto Rico, the organization that regulates cooperation between most mayors affiliated to the PPD.
A constitutional referendum was held in Puerto Rico on 19 August 2012. Voters were asked whether they approve of two amendments to the constitution: one to eliminate the absolute right to bail and the other to decrease the number of members of the Legislative Assembly. Despite support from the party in government and part of the main opposition party, both amendments were rejected by voters.
The free association movement in Puerto Rico refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at changing the current political status of Puerto Rico to that of a sovereign freely associated state. Locally, the term soberanista refers to someone that seeks to redefine the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States to that of a compact with full sovereignty. The term is mostly used in reference to those that support a compact of free association or a variation of this formula, commonly known as Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) Soberano, between Puerto Rico and the United States. Members of the independence movement that are willing to pursue alliances with this ideology are occasionally referred to as such, but are mostly known as independentistas. Consequently, soberanismo then became the local name for the free association movement.
Jorge Estévez Martínez is a Puerto Rican politician and the former mayor of Añasco. Estévez is affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) who served as mayor from 2009 to 2021.
General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government to serve from January 2017 to January 2021, most notably the Governor of Puerto Rico. Ricardo Rosselló was elected governor and Jenniffer González-Colón was elected Resident Commissioner. The elections saw a 23 percentage point drop in turnout and was the lowest voter turnout in Puerto Rican history.
The 2020 New Progressive Party primaries was the primary elections by which voters of the New Progressive Party (PNP) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico for 2020. The primaries, originally scheduled for June 2020, were delayed until August 9, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The August 9 elections, however, were marred by a lack of ballots leading a suspension of the election; polling locations that could not open on August 9 were scheduled to be open for voting on August 16. The winner for the party's nomination for Governor of Puerto Rico is Pedro Pierluisi, former Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico and acting Governor after Ricardo Rosselló's resignation, over incumbent Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced.
The 2020 Popular Democratic Party primaries was the primary elections by which voters of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico for 2020. The primaries, originally scheduled for June 2020, were delayed until August 9, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The August 9 elections, however, were marred by a lack of ballots leading a suspension of the election; polling locations that could not open on August 9 were scheduled to be open for voting on August 16. The winner for the party's nomination for Governor of Puerto Rico is Charlie Delgado, mayor of Isabela, over Carmen Yulín Cruz, mayor of San Juan and Eduardo Bhatia, Minority Leader of the Puerto Rico Senate.
A referendum of the status of Puerto Rico was held on November 3, 2020, concurrently with the general election. The Referendum was announced by Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced on May 16, 2020. This was the sixth referendum held on the status of Puerto Rico, with the previous one having taken place in 2017. This was the first referendum with a simple yes-or-no question, with voters having the option of voting for or against becoming a U.S. state. The New Progressive Party (PNP), of whom Vázquez is a member, supports statehood, while the opposition Popular Democratic Party (PDP) and Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) oppose it.
General elections were held in Puerto Rico on November 3, 2020, to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government who will serve from January 2021 to January 2025, most notably the position of Governor and Resident Commissioner. In addition, there was a non-binding status referendum to ask voters if Puerto Rico should become the 51st state of the Union.
A special election to elect shadow senators and shadow representatives from Puerto Rico was held on May 16, 2021. Voters chose two special delegates to the United States Senate and four special delegates to the United States House of Representatives. Their work is to demand that the US Congress respect and enforce the results of the 2020 status referendum, and admit Puerto Rico as the 51st state of the Union.
Gubernatorial elections were held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, to elect the governor of Puerto Rico, concurrently with the election of the Resident Commissioner, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the mayors of the 78 municipalities.
The 19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico will meet from January 2, 2021, to January 1, 2025. Members of the 31st House of Representatives of Puerto Rico were elected in the 2020 House of Representatives election, while members of the 27th Senate of Puerto Rico were elected the same day in the Senate election. The Popular Democratic Party does not have an outright majority in the Senate, but controls the chamber. While the PPD had a simple majority of representatives in the 31st House of Representatives from 2021 to 2022, this has ceased to be the case since 4 May 2022.
The 2024 United States House of Representatives election in Puerto Rico to elect the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico were held on November 5, 2024. The election of the Resident Commissioner was held concurrently with the larger 2024 United States House of Representatives elections, the 2024 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election, and other U.S. federal and Puerto Rican general election races.
On November 5, 2024, Puerto Rico held a non-binding referendum alongside the 2024 Puerto Rican general election and the 2024 United States elections. This was the seventh status referendum held in Puerto Rico amidst the long running debate over the island's political status.
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