The November 5 Election Has the Power to Reshape Puerto Rico
Lara González-Santiago
Staff Writer
Puerto Rico’s upcoming November 5 election has the potential to reshape the island’s political future. Whether this will be a moment of change or simply another missed opportunity hinges on one key factor: voter turnout. The request to extend the voter registration deadline and the emergence of a vote-stealing scandal have already raised concerns about the integrity of the election process. With so much on the line, including economic stability and political accountability, this election could define a new chapter in Puerto Rico’s history.
For decades, Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, has had a unique status when it comes to elections. While its residents are U.S. citizens and can participate in federal primaries, they do not have the right to vote in the U.S. presidential election. This means that Puerto Ricans living on the island cannot vote for the President of the United States, which has left many feeling disconnected with the broader political system, according to The Politics Watcher. Instead, Puerto Ricans elect their own governor, legislature, and local officials and vote on referendums. Local elections, like the one in November, carry immense weight, shaping everything from economic policy to the island’s ongoing debate between statehood and independence. Along with the debate came a partisan divide, as the Partido Popular Democratico (PPD) rallied behind maintaining commonwealth status, while the Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) pushed for Puerto Rico to become a state.
According to the Associated Press, the Election Commission’s recent rejection of a request to extend the voter registration deadline has raised significant concerns. Many advocacy groups, community leaders, and some politicians had called for an extension, arguing that the original deadline was too restrictive, due to the confusion surrounding the registration process. With just weeks until the election, this decision could disenfranchise many potential voters, particularly the younger generation and those from marginalized communities who faced difficulties in registering on time. Critics argue that this move feeds the island’s history of voter apathy and could discourage already disillusioned citizens from participating in the election.
The rejection of the voter registration extension is just one of the several issues that have raised doubts about the integrity of this election. A local investigative journalism organization called Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) uncovered systemic fraud in elections, with evidence of vote tampering, detailing that “900,000 deceased people… appeared to have voted in 2020 and 2016 elections,” raising alarms of the legitimacy of the vote. In addition, discrepancies involving Dominion Voting Systems during the recent primaries have raised concerns, with hundreds of errors reported due to software issues that led to incorrect vote tallies and machines reversing certain results or reporting zero votes for candidates, reports Yahoo. This kind of revelation has only deepened the public’s distrust, leaving many wondering whether the results of the election can truly reflect the will of the people. With such serious allegations, it raises questions about whether past elections were conducted fairly, or if the outcome stands for the choices made by the electorate.
Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island in 2017, and its recovery has been further complicated by the largest power company debt reported by NBC. At the same time, it is seeing an unprecedented push to get people to the polls, led by high-profile figures like Bad Bunny, the globally renowned Puerto Rican artist. Known for his outspoken activism on social issues, Bad Bunny has encouraged locals to break from traditional bipartisanship between the PNP and PPD parties. According to Yahoo, with messages like “Quien vota PNP no ama a Puerto Rico,” Bad Bunny, along with other artists like Residente and Rauw Alejandro, has shown support for the new alliance between the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP) and Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (MVC), calling for a change in the island’s political direction. Their influence is felt by the younger generation, who are seeking to shift away from corruption and towards a better future for the island. The outcome of Puerto Rico’s upcoming election hinges largely on whether these new voters will turn out and participate in the upcoming election.
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