Down here in the Isla del Encanto we have our own election mess. The PNP (Statehood) candidate former 2 term Governor Pedro Rossello was behind in the preliminary tally to the PDP (Commonwealth) candidate current Resident Commissioner Anibal Acevedo Vila by a scant 3,880 votes out of 1,970,759 votes counted, with another 30,000 votes uncounted.
Well the recount battle has started in earnest today, with the PNP filing suit in federal court, alleging that the recount procedures violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution - yep Bush v. Gore.
Now the fun begins.
More on the flip.
Puerto Rico is an all paper ballot jurisdiction with identical voting procedures throughout the Island. Elections are remarkably honest affairs with virtually no charges of fraud - the system has tremendous accountability controls. Nonetheless there are always some errors and with the election this close, every issue becomes magnified.
In its suit, the PNP is charging that the system of (1) recounting, (2)the transition procedure - which by law must commence within 72 hours of the election, and has here with the PDP leader in the balloting beginning the process with the outgoing PDP government, (3) absentee ballots and just today, (4) a new controversy regarding what are termed "mixed ballots" here - mixed ballots are what we think of as normal voting here - voting for each individual race - violates the U.S. Constitution. What's interesting about (4) is that the majority of votes in Puerto Rico are done through Puerto Rico's system of allowing voting solely by party - un voto integro - by marking your ballot at the top for the party of your choice. In this election, the controversy has arisen where some voters marked their ballot as a vote for a party and then marked their ballots in the individual races.
The PNP is arguing that these ballots should be disallowed. Why are they doing this? Well, this election in Puerto Rico was also considered singularly important. Rossello is as polarizing a figure here as Bush is in the U.S. When he first left in 2000, his administration left under a cloud of corruption unseen in Puerto Rico's history. But he had also strong claims of much achievement. For example, Rossello instituted a program of government funded universal health care. He had significantly reduced the crime rate with strong policing strategies. And he had effectively overhauled and improved the Island's infrastructure.
However, the level of corruption in his adminstration was unprecedented. Moreover, Rossello's governing style was autocratic and abrasive. He retaliated against his political foes in illegal ways - including an unprecedented campaign of persecution against the Island's largest newspaper (Disclosure - I was on the team of attorneys who represented the newspaper against then Gov. Rossello in a civil right First Amendment action in federal court).
Rossello was comfortably leading in all polls up the week of the election. His lead had been considerably reduced by a series of strong debate performances by Acevedo in October.
And then, in the last week, because Rossello's campaign was concerned that the Statehood party base was not as energized due to the tarnish on Rossello, his campaign turned strongly to the issue of Puerto Rico's status as a Commonwealth of the United States. This tactic appears to have backfired - due to the phenomenon of "melonismo" - the anomaly of Independence supporters voting for the PDP Commonwealth candidate. It was unprecedented in this election - to such an extent that the PIP, the Puerto Rico Independence Party, lost its place on the ballot by failing to draw the minimum 3% required to remain a registered party. Most of the ballots in question with the voto integro and voting on each race likely came from Independence supporters - and likely favor Acevedo.
Overall, it is apparent that the amalgam of negatives for Rossello, his overbearing manner and the abrasiveness of his last miniute campaigning galvanized a significant portion of voters to turn away from Rossello personally. The PNP regained control of both houses of the legislature with relative ease. Should Acevedo hold his lead, it will be the first instance [EDIT - since 1968] of fully divided government in the history of Puerto Rico.
One final twist, Rossello strongly tied himself to the fundamentalist religious element in
Puerto Rico. A fair portion of Puerto Rico voters recoiled from this blatant mix of politics and religion (there is a history on this in Puerto Rico. In 1960, the Catholic Church came out strongly against the legendary Popular Governor Luis Munoz Marin. Marin won by won of his largest margins ever.)
So now, we are in federal court, with Rossello brandishing Bush v. Gore and its trumped Equal Protection Clause rationale. The federal judges in our district are known statehood supporters, and have not always played fair in political cases. However, the case was assigned to Judge Daniel Dominguez, a smart fair judge who will probably do the right thing, whatever that is in this case. And the First Circuit has always played a neutral role in these political squabbles - carrying great prestige here.
So, my friends, the United States does not have a monopoly on election messes.
Just a little interesting story for a Friday night.