The Supreme Court issues a judgment on endorsement requirements and early voting in the Electoral Code

The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, with an opinion issued under the presidency of Chief Justice Maite Oronoz Rodríguez, handed down a momentous judgment on the statutory controversies raised regarding the application of Puerto Rico's Electoral Code (Ley 58 of 2020) in the general elections.

The determination of the island's highest judicial forum validated the rules and regulations adopted by the State Elections Commission (CEE), chaired on an acting basis by Jessika Padilla Rivera, around the mechanisms for validating signatures and requests for early voting by mail, home voting for bedridden persons, and endorsement requirements for independent and at-large candidates.

The judgment reaffirmed the judicial doctrine that imposes a strict balance between citizens' fundamental right to suffrage and the institutional safeguards of purity, transparency, and chain of custody of the ballots. The electoral commissioners of the various political parties stated that they will abide by the legal guideline heading into the operational phases of voting and final vote counting.

Source: El Vocero. https://www.elvocero.com/tribunales/supremo-emite-sentencia-sobre-voto-adelantado-y-codigo-electoral/article_80supremovoto.html