By The Star Staff
The general scrutiny of the November election, which began Tuesday, entails the counting of thousands of mail-in ballots and the recount of eight races that are on the line and the legislative ballot.
State Elections Commission (SEC) Alternate Chairwoman Jessika Padilla Rivera said the high volume of mail-in ballots could lead to changes in the results of some election contests.
“There are some fewer, some more, which, evidently, can change the final numbers, but that does not alter the winners or the main races,” she said.
So far, she said the counts in the races for House precincts 2, 3, 1, 20 and 22, the Mayagüez Senate district and the at-large legislative seats could change after the scrutiny. That is mainly because the write-in ballots must be counted by hand and not by machines.
Depending on the results, lawmakers will know if the so-called Minority Law will be applied. The law says that if a party obtains a majority of two-thirds in one or in the two legislative chambers, another minority party lawmaker may have to be added.
In explaining the scrutiny process, Padilla Rivera said that if the minutes of the scrutiny match the minutes of incidents, the ballot box in question is balanced. If the minutes do not match, the case containing ballots must be opened and counted again.
“If it requires a recount, which is what we are talking about with the legislative ballot, then the ‘briefcase’ is opened and that legislative ballot is recounted,” the SEC official said.
During the scrutiny, all political parties must be represented.
Padilla Rivera pointed out that the recount is done with the counting machines and only what is not read by the machine is counted manually, which, of course, includes write-in votes.
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