Edgardo Cruz is aiming for a judicial victory in his struggle for mayor of Guánica

The Court of First Instance of San Juan has declared today, Wednesday, that the request for rejection of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and the State Election Commission (EEC) in the lawsuit filed by the candidate for direct nomination to the ‘mayor of Guánica, Edgardo Cruz.

He believes he has filed an appeal for review with the court to challenge the decision of the President of the EEC, Francisco Rosado Colomer, in which he does not award votes cast by direct nomination in his favor because the voter did not mark with an X on the ballot the rectangle of the box corresponding to direct nomination.

“This court declares No Ha Lloc the motions for dismissal filed. Consequently, the appeal for judicial review is declared Ha Lloc. presented by Mr. Edgardo Creu Vélez “, says the sentence issued by Judge Anthony Cuevas.

The judge argued that although voters who voted by nomination did not mark the rectangle, “Voting by direct nomination is distinguishable from other types of voting because it requires, by its issuance, that the voter write the name of a person who is not a candidate.”

“The essence of this type of vote is the name of the nominee, so its validity cannot be subordinated to whether it has a mark next to it,” the judge points out.

This court ruling implies that the EEC, when there is only one day left until the end of the year and without having concluded the general scrutiny, will have to review again the briefcases with electoral material of the contest in the mayoralty of Guánica to find the votes which challenged Cross.

At the time, the EEC had established the PPP candidate, Ismael “Titi” Rodríguez Ramos, as the winner by only 24 votes ahead.