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Miguel Romero Claims Victory Amid Alleged ‘Irregularities’
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Giovanna Garofalo ggarofalo@wjournalpr.com @giopgarofalo
With accusations of irregularities in the votecounting process, Puerto Rico Sen. Miguel Romero has already embraced his apparent victory for San Juan City Hall, hoping to unite those who question the legitimacy of his status as mayor-elect of the capital city.
Romero, the candidate for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (NPP), claimed his triumph over his closest contender, P.R. Rep. Manuel Natal, of the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC by its Spanish initials). At one point in the ballot counting, preliminary results placed Natal at the top of the race. Romero is poised to become San Juan’s first NPP leader in eight years, since Jorge Santini stepped down in January 2021 following his defeat to the incumbent Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). However, both Natal and some officials have denounced that there are a myriad of ballot boxes that have not been accounted for. Roberto Iván Aponte, the electoral commissioner of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), said that after a meeting on Monday evening, he learned that there were roughly 150 ballot boxes that hadn’t been counted, even though the State Elections Commission (CEE by its Spanish acronym), had informed on Nov. 7 that all votes had been included in its final tally. “Election operations staff will now take care of organizing the entire vault and organizing the [ballot] briefcases per municipality and it will take a while,” Aponte told THE WEEKLY JOURNAL. For his part, Romero is confident that the ballot scrutiny will confirm his win, despite the alleged missing ballot boxes. Speaking at a news conference on Nov. 9, the apparent victor acknowledged the need for a recount to uphold democracy, but essentially treated it as a formality, reiterating that he is certain he will prevail after the scrutiny, which is slated to begin today, Nov. 11. “This is a preliminary certification of the result of the general election. The transition processes are not passed while there is scrutiny because the scrutiny is a review and accounting of minutes.
Miguel Romero affirms that he was elected to lead San Juan under the New Progressive Party. >Carlos Rivera Giusti
There is no count. The law establishes when the process begins after the elections,” Romero stated. “I have no doubt about the result of the election.”
In that same news conference, he asserted that he and his team are ready to set forth the transition process with Cruz Soto, who lost the PDP primaries for the gubernatorial race. “We are now ready, and I am very confident that the mayor will communicate with me at the time that she deems appropriate,” Romero said.
Call for Dialogue
Moreover, he extended an invitation to Natal to set aside their differences and share proposals on how to boost Puerto Rico’s capital. “The doors are open. I do not dismiss dialogue with Rep. Natal; it can be formal, informal,” he said.
“Well, today (Monday) I said that we are all open to talk and I am. To Rep. Manuel Natal, I am more than available to meet, sit down, have a drink, whatever, and talk about the processes that again, [earned votes for] all those who competed in San Juan. Those votes were won because a job was done by them and those people who voted for them believed in their proposals and in their vision. I have to respect that and I am going to do it,” the official said.
Romero also announced the 11 members of his transition team, to be headed by Manuel Díaz Saldaña.
As of press time, Romero was the top contender for San Juan’s mayoralty, with 44,313 votes (36.22 percent). He was followed by Natal, with 42,081 votes (34.40 percent); PDP candidate Rossana López, with 28,146 votes (23.01 percent); PIP candidate Adrián González Costa, with 4,021 votes (3.29 percent); and Nelson Rosario González (Dignity Project), with 3,722 votes (3.08 percent).
