Puerto Rico General Elections of 2004
Encyclopedia
The Puerto Rico General Elections of 2004 took place on Election Day
, Tuesday, November 2, 2004. After a count by the State Commission of Elections, the winner was inaugurated to a four-year term as Governor of Puerto Rico
on January 2, 2005.
The post of Governor of Puerto Rico
and the entire House of Representatives
and the entire Senate
, as well as the Mayor
s of the municipalities of Puerto Rico
, and the Resident Commissioner
were also elected for four-year terms.
For the first time in Puerto Rican history
, citizens unable to mobilize to voting colleges for medical reasons, but capable of practicing their right to vote, were visited in their own homes and hospitals so that they could exercise their vote.
On November 3, after 1,970,759 votes (98.3% of the total votes) were computed, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
(PPD) was certified preliminarily as winning for Governor of Puerto Rico
. On the other hand, Luis Fortuño
(PNP) was certified as Resident Commissioner
, while the Senate
and the House of Representatives
were also dominated by the New Progressive Party
.
The preliminary certification was signed by Gerardo Cruz, electoral commissioner of the Popular Democratic Party
(PPD), Brunilda Ortiz, alternate electoral commissioner of the New Progressive Party (PNP), and Andrés Miranda Rosa, alternate electoral commissioner of the Puerto Rican Independence Party
(PIP). The alternate commissioners were authorized by the electoral commissioners in property of their party, Thomas Rivera Schatz
(PNP) and Juan Dalmau (PIP).
Acevedo Vilá's margin of victory over Pedro Rosselló
was of 3,880 (0.2%) votes, whereas Luis Fortuño had 9,526 (0.49%) votes of advantage against Roberto Prats
for Resident Commissioner
. Due to the small margin of victory being, the Puerto Rican electoral laws state that a recount must be performed, and that once this recount is finished, the official winner will be certified by the CEE-PUR. The recount started on Monday, November 9 as established by law, and had to finish by December 31 or earlier.
During the period, Rosselló filed a civil lawsuit against Acevedo Vilá himself over a dispute of certain ballots that were cast during the elections. This led to a protracted controversy involving appeals to the United States federal courts
and the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
. The ballots in question were cast by marking the Puerto Rican Independence Party
or New Progressive Party
(i.e. marking a cross under the emblem of one of these parties) in addition to placing individual candidate marks (crosses) in favor of Acevedo Vilá as the candidate for governor of the Popular Democratic Party and Roberto Prats
, the Popular Democratic Party's candidate for Resident Commissioner
. The mark indicating the selection of a political party selects that party's slate of candidates by default, but the voter can also select individual candidates from other parties to replace candidates from the default slate.
The controversy reached the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
, which ruled 4–3 that the ballots in question were valid. In its initial opinion, the Supreme Court majority interpreted the challenged ballots as indicating that voters were voting for the PIP as a party for the purposes of stating party affiliation (and for the PIP's default slate) but had decided to move their votes to individual candidates from other party's slates. This type of vote, described as a "mixed vote", is permitted in Rule 50 of the State Election Commission's rules, based on the Commonwealth's Electoral Law as amended in 2004, Title 2, Section 2.001, Subsection 3. The practice is therefore considered legal and has been published in the official voter's instructions by the State Election Commission for quite some time. This voting option was also allowed and seen in the 1996 and 2000 elections, and had never been contested before, either at the Legislature or by the NPP's Electoral Commissioner. The individual votes for candidates not from the voter's selected party are then deducted from the votes given to the default candidates of the voter's party. The end result is a single vote per candidate.
At the same time, Rosselló challenged the ballots on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
where District Judge Daniel Domínguez ordered the Puerto Rico Election Commission to count the disputed votes but to not adjudicate them to any candidate until he reached a decision on the merits of the case. Acevedo Vilá and his team challenged this ruling and the case moved up to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
, where three judges ruled the question of whether or not the ballots were properly cast was not a federal constitutional issue and therefore should be decided by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
at the Commonwealth level. The Supreme Court affirmed its prior 4–3 decision. On December 28, 2004, the recount ended and Acevedo Vilá was certified as winner and therefore Governor elected. Once the official winners were announced, they were inaugurated to four-year terms on January 2, 2005.
(consisting of $5 million USD) nor have a separate column in ballot papers on the following elections. However, Maria de Lourdes Santiago
became the first woman from that party to be elected Senator in the history of Puerto Rico
.
Election Day (United States)
Election Day in the United States is the day set by law for the general elections of public officials. It occurs on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The earliest possible date is November 2 and the latest possible date is November 8...
, Tuesday, November 2, 2004. After a count by the State Commission of Elections, the winner was inaugurated to a four-year term as Governor of Puerto Rico
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
on January 2, 2005.
The post of Governor of Puerto Rico
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
and the entire House of Representatives
House of Representatives of Puerto Rico
The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico...
and the entire Senate
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
, as well as the Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
s of the municipalities of Puerto Rico
Municipalities of Puerto Rico
The Municipalities of Puerto Rico number 78 and they make up the smallest electoral division of the Commonwealth. Each municipality is divided into barrios, though the latter are not vested with political authority.-Administrative divisions:...
, and the Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years...
were also elected for four-year terms.
For the first time in Puerto Rican history
History of Puerto Rico
The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the archipelago of Puerto Rico by the Ortoiroid people between 3000 and 2000 BC. Other tribes, such as the Saladoid and Arawak Indians, populated the island between 430 BC and 1000 AD. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New...
, citizens unable to mobilize to voting colleges for medical reasons, but capable of practicing their right to vote, were visited in their own homes and hospitals so that they could exercise their vote.
Candidates for Governor
- Aníbal Acevedo ViláAníbal Acevedo ViláAníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,...
for the Popular Democratic PartyPopular Democratic Party of Puerto RicoThe Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth.... - Pedro Rosello for the New Progressive PartyNew Progressive Party of Puerto RicoThe New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
- Ruben BerriosRubén BerríosRubén Ángel Berríos Martínez is a lawyer, a Puerto Rican politician, and the current president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party...
for the Puerto Rican Independence PartyPuerto Rican Independence PartyThe Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
Candidates for Resident Commissioner
- Edwin Irizarry MoraEdwin Irizarry MoraEdwin Irizarry Mora is an economist, professor and pro-independence leader in Puerto Rico.He was the Puerto Rican Independence Party candidate for governor of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the 2008 election. In 2004, he ran for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington, D.C....
for the Puerto Rican Independence PartyPuerto Rican Independence PartyThe Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty.... - Luis FortuñoLuis FortuñoLuis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
for the New Progressive PartyNew Progressive Party of Puerto RicoThe New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state... - Roberto PratsRoberto PratsRoberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004...
for the Popular Democratic PartyPopular Democratic Party of Puerto RicoThe Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
Results
Results were announced by the State Commission of Elections (CEE-PUR) on November 2–3, 2004 after the voting colleges closed on November 2 at 3:00 p.m. AST.On November 3, after 1,970,759 votes (98.3% of the total votes) were computed, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,...
(PPD) was certified preliminarily as winning for Governor of Puerto Rico
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
. On the other hand, Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
(PNP) was certified as Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years...
, while the Senate
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
and the House of Representatives
House of Representatives of Puerto Rico
The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico...
were also dominated by the New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
.
The preliminary certification was signed by Gerardo Cruz, electoral commissioner of the Popular Democratic Party
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
(PPD), Brunilda Ortiz, alternate electoral commissioner of the New Progressive Party (PNP), and Andrés Miranda Rosa, alternate electoral commissioner of the Puerto Rican Independence Party
Puerto Rican Independence Party
The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
(PIP). The alternate commissioners were authorized by the electoral commissioners in property of their party, Thomas Rivera Schatz
Thomas Rivera Schatz
Thomas "Tommy" Rivera Schätz is a Puerto Rican politician currently serving as the fourteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He is affiliated with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Republican Party...
(PNP) and Juan Dalmau (PIP).
Recount and shared government
Pedro Rosselló
Pedro Juan Rosselló González, M.D., , is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the sixth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001...
was of 3,880 (0.2%) votes, whereas Luis Fortuño had 9,526 (0.49%) votes of advantage against Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004...
for Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...
. Due to the small margin of victory being, the Puerto Rican electoral laws state that a recount must be performed, and that once this recount is finished, the official winner will be certified by the CEE-PUR. The recount started on Monday, November 9 as established by law, and had to finish by December 31 or earlier.
During the period, Rosselló filed a civil lawsuit against Acevedo Vilá himself over a dispute of certain ballots that were cast during the elections. This led to a protracted controversy involving appeals to the United States federal courts
United States federal courts
The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
and the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of Commonwealth law. As the highest body of the judicial branch of the Puerto Rican government, it is analogous to one of the...
. The ballots in question were cast by marking the Puerto Rican Independence Party
Puerto Rican Independence Party
The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
or New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
(i.e. marking a cross under the emblem of one of these parties) in addition to placing individual candidate marks (crosses) in favor of Acevedo Vilá as the candidate for governor of the Popular Democratic Party and Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats
Roberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004...
, the Popular Democratic Party's candidate for Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...
. The mark indicating the selection of a political party selects that party's slate of candidates by default, but the voter can also select individual candidates from other parties to replace candidates from the default slate.
The controversy reached the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of Commonwealth law. As the highest body of the judicial branch of the Puerto Rican government, it is analogous to one of the...
, which ruled 4–3 that the ballots in question were valid. In its initial opinion, the Supreme Court majority interpreted the challenged ballots as indicating that voters were voting for the PIP as a party for the purposes of stating party affiliation (and for the PIP's default slate) but had decided to move their votes to individual candidates from other party's slates. This type of vote, described as a "mixed vote", is permitted in Rule 50 of the State Election Commission's rules, based on the Commonwealth's Electoral Law as amended in 2004, Title 2, Section 2.001, Subsection 3. The practice is therefore considered legal and has been published in the official voter's instructions by the State Election Commission for quite some time. This voting option was also allowed and seen in the 1996 and 2000 elections, and had never been contested before, either at the Legislature or by the NPP's Electoral Commissioner. The individual votes for candidates not from the voter's selected party are then deducted from the votes given to the default candidates of the voter's party. The end result is a single vote per candidate.
At the same time, Rosselló challenged the ballots on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is based in San Juan. The main building is the Clemente Ruiz Nazario U.S. Courthouse located in the Hato Rey district of San Juan...
where District Judge Daniel Domínguez ordered the Puerto Rico Election Commission to count the disputed votes but to not adjudicate them to any candidate until he reached a decision on the merits of the case. Acevedo Vilá and his team challenged this ruling and the case moved up to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Maine* District of Massachusetts...
, where three judges ruled the question of whether or not the ballots were properly cast was not a federal constitutional issue and therefore should be decided by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of Commonwealth law. As the highest body of the judicial branch of the Puerto Rican government, it is analogous to one of the...
at the Commonwealth level. The Supreme Court affirmed its prior 4–3 decision. On December 28, 2004, the recount ended and Acevedo Vilá was certified as winner and therefore Governor elected. Once the official winners were announced, they were inaugurated to four-year terms on January 2, 2005.
PIP loses its franchise
On a different note, the Puerto Rican Independence Party was unable to reach 3% of the total votes on the preliminary results, putting in risk their franchise as a principal political party by Puerto Rican electoral laws. Because of this, the party may not receive funds from the government of Puerto RicoGovernment of Puerto Rico
The Government of Puerto Rico is a republican form of government subject to U.S. jurisdiction and sovereignty. Its current powers are all delegated by the United States Congress and lack full protection under the United States Constitution...
(consisting of $5 million USD) nor have a separate column in ballot papers on the following elections. However, Maria de Lourdes Santiago
María de Lourdes Santiago
María de Lourdes Santiago is a lawyer and journalist from Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. She is the current vice-president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party and in 2004 became the first woman from that party to be elected into the Senate in the history of Puerto Rico.-Biography:Santiago has a...
became the first woman from that party to be elected Senator in the history of Puerto Rico
History of Puerto Rico
The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the archipelago of Puerto Rico by the Ortoiroid people between 3000 and 2000 BC. Other tribes, such as the Saladoid and Arawak Indians, populated the island between 430 BC and 1000 AD. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New...
.
Governor
| Candidate | Political party | Popular vote | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aníbal Acevedo Vilá Aníbal Acevedo Vilá Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,... |
PPD Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth.... |
953,459 | 48.4% | |
| Pedro Rosselló Pedro Rosselló Pedro Juan Rosselló González, M.D., , is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the sixth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001... |
PNP New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state... |
949,579 | 48.2% | |
| Rubén Berríos Rubén Berríos Rubén Ángel Berríos Martínez is a lawyer, a Puerto Rican politician, and the current president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party... |
PIP Puerto Rican Independence Party The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty.... |
52,660 | 2.7% | |
| Carlos Pesquera Carlos Pesquera Carlos Ignacio Pesquera Morales Ph.D. is a Puerto Rican civil engineer and former politician. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2000. He is married to Irasema Rivera, an agronomist, and has one son and one daughter... |
PNP New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state... , Write In Write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu... |
8,593 | N/A | |
| Others | 15,601 | 0.8% | ||
Resident Commissioner
| Candidate | Political party | Popular vote | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Fortuño Luis Fortuño Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State... |
PNP New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state... |
947,098 | 48.52% | |
| Roberto Prats Roberto Prats Roberto Prats Palerm is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004... |
PPD Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth.... |
937,572 | 48.03% | |
| Edwin Irizarry Mora Edwin Irizarry Mora Edwin Irizarry Mora is an economist, professor and pro-independence leader in Puerto Rico.He was the Puerto Rican Independence Party candidate for governor of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the 2008 election. In 2004, he ran for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington, D.C.... |
PIP Puerto Rican Independence Party The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty.... |
55,503 | 2.84% | |
| Others | 11,993 | 0.61% | ||
Senate
| Category | PPD | PNP | PIP | Sub-total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By district | 5 | 11 | 0 | 16 |
| By accumulation | 4 | 6 | 1 | 11 |
| Total | 8 | 18 | 1 | 27 |
| Percentage | 29.6% | 66.7% | 3.7% |
House of Representatives
| Category | PPD | PNP | PIP | Sub-total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By district | 14 | 26 | 0 | 40 |
| By accumulation | 4 | 6 | 1 | 11 |
| Total | 18 | 32 | 1 | 51 |
| Percentage | 35.29% | 62.75% | 1.96% |
External links
- State Commission of Elections of Puerto Rico - official site (in Spanish)