Doubts about the possibility of double voting

The 13,795 envelopes with ballot papers added by hand were already verified and awarded during the general ballot, but in this exercise 6,229 voters who voted in advance by mail were not considered, which prevent collision if any of these votes were cast twice, Acknowledged the chairman of the State Election Commission (EEC), Francisco Rosado Colomer.

The 6,229 envelopes in which advanced ballot papers were sent that appeared in recent days in six ballots were not included in the list that was used to corroborate which voters had already voted and therefore had no right to vote added to hand.

The six sealed briefcases appeared on the outskirts of the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, in San Juan, where the electoral scrutiny takes place.

“These briefcases were placed there in this area on November 11 and, from November 11, they remained there until December 4, when they were found there by a third party official ( the Puerto Rican Independentist Party) “, explained Rosat Colomer.

“So the information on these envelopes, those that had not been entered into the system, was not available when the hand-added add-on was done. Whether or not there was indeed, within d ‘these 6,229, some double vote, as this entails an additional exercise that will have to be done later,’ ‘he added.

He clarified that the hand-added vote will be verified again when the polls end because it will not stop these jobs which, at the time, are overdue. “We cannot, right now, restart the scrutiny, restart the hand-added work,” the EEC president argued.

He stressed that if a double vote is found, he will take it to state and federal authorities as it is a crime. “I think that even if the outcome does not change, the person responsible is to file the complaint if one has a well-founded suspicion that a crime was committed,” he emphasized.

“But right now, I don’t think we have the ‘manpower’ to do it, particularly at the stage we are in because we even removed it by hand from the sand (of the coliseum) to add more tables “, abound.

Rosat Colomer handed over to the election commissioners on Wednesday, a copy of the security videos captured on December 4 and 11 from the site where the 6,229 advance ballot envelopes were found by mail.

“What emerges from the videos is that maintenance employees were picking up the area, and they placed it there. On December 4, a third-party official is in the area smoking a cigarette and identifying the briefcases, and here we are. I gave it to the commissioners (the videos) so they can make a decision, “he explained.

He assured that the list with which the possibility of double voting is compared is updated daily to include the names of the voters the ballots arrive by mail. The EEC will receive ballot papers voted by mail until the end of the poll, according to the Electoral Code, but they must have stamp killers on or before November 3.

“So far, I have to say that no double vote has been cast, so if we were to go to the odds, the probability of a double vote occurring would be based on the soon low experience because it has not yet been confirmed that we have found a double vote, “he said.