Puerto Rican parties claim the right to join the candidates

The restriction, imposed in 2011 by the New Progressive Inclusion Party (PNP), has been criticized as a “limit on democracy and a barrier to political representation of minorities” in the country’s general elections.

The court complaint states that the ban on combining nominations on the ballot violates the various constitutional rights of political parties, their members, and voters.

Political organizations said the ban limits the ability of political parties to form coalitions and field candidates representing a broad range of viewpoints.

The suit proposes declaring Sections 6.1 and 7.9 of Puerto Rico’s electoral code unconstitutional. And although it was under the colonial rule of the United States for nearly 125 years, since 1952 it has held general elections to choose its governor and mayors. Members of the Legislative Council.

Jurist Carlos Jurian Peralta explained that the two parties PIP and MVC are brought to court with the greatest good faith in the judicial system as a last resort to right the error of election law, which has stalled election law and practices for more than a century.

He noted that electoral legislation in place in Puerto Rico since 2011 violates the fundamental values ​​of our people by imposing in electoral law the prohibition on two or more political parties agreeing to an alliance or submitting coalition nominations.

The constitutional lawyer stressed that “this prohibition was repeated in the 2020 amendments, and it is fixed in the amendments that are currently being considered in the Legislative Council.”

Attorney José Javier Llamas, in turn, stated that “the prohibitions place heavy burdens on the exercise of fundamental rights that political parties and their members possess, such as the right to vote, freedom of association, and freedom of expression.”

He stressed that this situation is also discriminatory against the political opposition of the two parties – represented by the New Progressive Party (PNP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PPD) – without any compelling government interest.

“In this sense, we are faced with provisions in the election law that are clearly unconstitutional and must be made public to open the way for an electoral process that recognizes greater democratic participation,” the lawyer said.

MVC and PIP, their respective General Coordinator Manuel Natal Albello and Secretary General Juan Dalmão Ramírez, as well as the Election Commissioners, who will form an alliance for the November 2024 elections, appear as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

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