Democratic Primaries were held in Puerto Rico on June 5, 2016. Sixty pledged delegates were at stake, more delegates than 31 other electoral contests celebrated by the Democratic Party. It is shocking how such an important contest had little attention in the National media. What happened in the Puerto Rico (PR) Primary should be classified as the biggest voter disenfranchisement this primary cycle; more votes were suppressed in PR than in Arizona and Rhode Island. In Puerto Rican politics there is a culture of fraud and deceit that could be reflected mainly by the Puerto Rican debt crisis, debt that surpasses 72 billion dollars. [ii]This irresponsible conduct of the Puerto Rican political class has also been observed in past political contests irregularities and inconsistencies.
The Democratic primary was not an exception. The failure of Puerto Rico’s Democratic Primary can be attributed to the chair of the Puerto Rican Democratic Party Roberto Prats and its Committeeman Kenneth McClintock, both of which will be superdelegates representing Puerto Rico in the Democratic Convention next month. McClintock and Prats have been linked in the past in corruption and extortion schemes.[iii][iv] The PR National Party at first had 1,505 electoral colleges available for its primary; Roberto Prats said that he expected more than 700,000 voters.[v] One week before the contest the Democratic Party decided to reduce the electoral colleges to 455 due to an alleged lack of funds. McClintock told the press that they now expected 300,000 people to participate. Meaning that they knew 400,000 voters were not going to have the chance to enact democracy.
Early voting held in prisons on June 3 was by itself a scandal. It was reported that a prisoner organization called "Los Ñeta"[vi] were ordering other inmates to vote for Hillary or else. It is said that there is evidence that politicians bribed “los Ñeta” in exchange for their political support.
It is important to note that early on June 3, McClintock tweeted[vii] that the majority of early voters (prisoners) were voting for Hillary. How is the Committeeman supposed to know this information so early in the day? Vote counts were not supposed to start until June 5. If he knew this, did he open the ballot box and check personally?
In the Sunday democratic primary there was an even bigger problem, there were not enough officers for the 455 polling stations. As a matter of fact, there were some polling stations like Colegio Carmen Sol, Adela Rolon Fuentes, where no Clinton officers were present and only one Sanders officer was doing all the work. According to Ángel Vélez, a Sanders campaign voluntary, “Sanders Officers were the people that made possible the election, if it were not for us more people would not have been able to vote around the island. My brother Christian Velez was working in the Manuel Velilla High School and he was the only officer working there.” Some Democrat Polling stations like Colegio San Ignacio opened as late as 10:30am, because no officers arrived until then. Voting was supposed to start at 8:00am and close at 3:00pm. Voter lists were also incomplete. How many voters were disenfranchised by this problem? The answer is an estimate of 600,000.
When asked about the long lines at some polling stations, Prats replied with satisfaction. He told the press that they exceeded the number of voters expected and that he was pleased with people’s support for the primary[viii]. The official numbers[ix] of people who voted in the PR primary was less than 88,149, and the official number of polling stations that opened was actually 335.
If anything, Roberto Prats should be frustrated: 600,000 voters, 6 out of 7 expected to vote, did not cast their ballot. Two days after voting, only 69% of the votes have been counted and published. People asked themselves, “Where is the transparency and why haven’t the officials released these numbers? Why don’t the officials of the Democratic Party demand these results be published?
It is the responsibility Prats and McClintock to find the officers needed in order to properly organize the primary. How is it possible for an event that has been scheduled so prior in advance so ill prepared and understaffed? It is almost as if they wanted to sabotage the primary by default. One thing can only be said; Prats and McClintock are not diligent or responsible with their work. They poorly serve democracy and are not capable officials for the PR Democratic Party. If they lack the ability to lead and summon people they do not perform the service our constituents deserve, and need to be substituted.
As Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address, our government is one of the people, by the people, for the people. Today’s bureaucrats manipulate democracy for their personal benefit. Prats has been Chair of the Democratic Party since 2004 and McClintock Committeeman since 2000. They represent a political class that is self-serving and is willing to manipulate democracy to fulfill their personal agenda. It is a shame that this outrageous behavior has become commonplace nationwide. In the name of democracy, the PR primary should be further investigated and the authors of its failure should be held accountable.
Sourcing:
[i]http://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/nota/capitulocerradoparajorgedecastrofont-1351915/
[ii]http://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/tribunales/nota/anaudihernandezsedeclaraculpableporcorrupcionpublica-2163904/
[iii]http://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/tribunales/nota/pidenalosfederalesinvestigaramelbaacosta-2109981/
[iv] http://www.noticel.com/noticia/179794/silencio-de-implicados-y-reclamos-de-investigacion-tras-confesion-de-de-castro-font.html
[v]http://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/politica/nota/reducena455colegiosdevotacionenlaprimariapresidencialdemocrata-2203982
[vi] http://www.primerahora.com/noticias/gobierno-politica/nota/losnetasamenazarondemuertealosquevotaranporsanders-1157130/