Puerto Rico: Elections Commission Announces Preliminary Results

Having reported 95.11 percent of the polling stations set for the general elections, the New Progressive Party candidate Pedro Pierluisi leads the Popular Democratic Party candidate Carlos Delgado Altieri, with over 12,000 votes.

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The State Elections Commission (CEE) has already counted 5,295 out of the 5,567 polling stations. A total of 1,183,843 ballots have been cast, representing a turnout of 51.32 percent.

Meanwhile, the Citizen's Victory Movement (MVC) candidate Alexandra Lugaro goes in third place with 14.53 percent of the votes, followed by the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) candidate Juan Dalmau with 13.94 percent of the votes.

The last two positions are held by Cesar Vazquez, running for the Dignity Project (82,938 votes), and the independent candidate Eliezer Molina (8,268 votes).

Puerto Ricans went to the polls to choose their new governor for the period 2020-2024, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, mayors of 78 municipalities, and the Resident Commissioner at the U.S. House of Representatives.

A plebiscite was also held to decide whether the country should become a state of the U.S. or maintain its current status. It is the sixth plebiscite to be called to determine the matter. 

The results of that plebiscite, however, are not binding since the decision on the island's statehood status lies in the U.S. Congress.

The New Progressive Party won the 2016 elections with Ricardo Antonio Rossello, who secured 41.8 percent of the votes and became the 12th governor of Puerto Rico.