As the Comisión Estatal de Elecciones (CEE) had stipulated, voting in the general elections on the Island closed at 5:00 p.m.
Long lines continue at polling places, however. That is the case at Escuela Juan José Osuna in San Juan and Escuela Luis Muñoz Rivera in Quebradillas, according to the Platea team reporting from various points on the Island.
Even so, everyone in line will have the right to cast their vote. CEE director Jessika Padilla Rivera said the lines will be closed and those voters will be given numbered turns.
"In the event that there are voters at closing time, they will be placed in a closed line and given a turn that will guarantee their entry to exercise their right," Padilla Rivera said.
According to the CEE, a preliminary result is expected by 10:00 p.m.
How the day started at the polls
By 10 a.m., some polling places in the metropolitan area had still not opened, according to commissioners. That was the case at Escuela Superior Cedin in Río Piedras, where the Partido Independentista (PIP) gubernatorial candidate, Juan Dalmau, was scheduled to vote, and at Escuela José Gautier Benítez in Caguas.
At Escuela Ramón María Torres in San Sebastián, meanwhile, the process was halted because the machines broke down, one of our correspondents reported.
Similarly, voter Laura Sánchez Díaz said that when she went to cast her ballot, the machine would not read her ballots, at Escuela Rosa Sánchez in Yabucoa.
In addition, the mayor of Coamo, Juan Carlos García Padilla, reported to Telemundo that bags containing Sharpies had not yet arrived at some polling places during the morning hours.
Uncertainty over the early-vote count also continues.
Partido Nuevo Progresista electoral commissioner Aníbal Vega Borges told Noticel that around 100,000 votes could be uncounted as of 10:00 p.m. today.
Following a ruling by the Tribunal de Primera Instancia, the process will proceed without balanced participation from officials of all parties.
For his part, Proyecto Dignidad gubernatorial candidate Javier Jiménez argued that conducting the count "by hand" lends itself to "corruption."
Separately, Bad Bunny, who appeared at the PIP and Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (MVC) campaign closing event last Sunday, cast his vote at Colegio St. John's in Condado.
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Cover photo by Amanda Tristani
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
