Lottery for positions for the status consultation ballot is held

The president of the SEC, Jessika Padilla Rivera, presided over the ceremony in which the positions of the alternatives on the ballot were defined.

By The STAR STAFF

The State Elections Commission (SEC) late Wednesday conducted the drawing of positions on the ballot regarding the status consultation, ordered under an executive order by Governor Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia.

The president of the SEC, Jessika Padilla Rivera, presided over the ceremony in which the positions of the alternatives on the ballot were defined: on the left, the alternative of Sovereignty and Free Association with the United States of America, represented by a circle; in the center, Statehood, represented by a square; and finally, on the right, Independence, represented by a triangle.

“The definitions set forth on the ballot were those established in the governor’s executive order. The definitions are established in executive order OE 2024-016 and the second section of the executive order, third clause, establishes the alternatives to be presented in the vote. The plebiscite will offer eligible voters the opportunity to choose one of the alternatives included in the Puerto Rico Status Act HR-8393,” explained Padilla Rivera in a press conference.

Regarding the budget, Padilla Rivera mentioned that “when the State Election Commission works on the electoral budget for the general elections, it does not consider this plebiscite consultation, since it was not in the panorama.

However, the total of $6.2 million was budgeted to cover the ballot line and the Commission was granted $7.5 million, so it seems that the additional expense of this fifth ballot can be contemplated. In budgetary terms, the programming of the ballot in the counting machine does not have a significant additional cost, but we need to evaluate the difference in the educational campaign, since $3.1 million were assigned and the offer is $5.8 million, which requires requesting the difference of $2.1 million.”

Padilla Rivera also commented on the ballot counting process: “In this general election event, the five ballots are visible. The time it takes the voter to count the ballot by the counting machine is an issue to consider. The Commission as a whole determined that the photographs of the ballots will not be recorded on both memory cards to speed up the process.”