BOSTON, MA —
The hotly contested Puerto Rico election for governor has entered the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston to decide whether the Puerto Rican Supreme Court or a U.S. District Judge has jurisdiction over the contested ballots.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico.  The election has been contested since November.
The ballot for governor allows Puerto Ricans to vote for a governor of their political party and any one person.  The largest instance of this occurred when members of the Independence Party voted for their candidate (who trailed a distant third) and for Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the Popular Democratic Party.  Opposition mainly from the New Progressive Party argues that the intent of the voter is not clear on these "mixed ballots."  The Popular Democratic Party points out that such mixed ballots have been accepted in the past.
Pedro Rosselló, former governor from the New Progressive Party, is up for re-election.
The Puerto Rican Supreme Court ruled the ballots valid, a decision that was overturned by a U.S. Federal Judge Daniel Domínguez, who ordered ballots be counted but not confirmed until their validity can be decided.  The election is a close one, and the validity of the contested ballots will determine the winner.
Time pressure increases with each day, since the inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 2, 2005.
The Independence Party favours Puerto Rico becoming an independent nation, and is a small third party.  The Popular Democratic Party currently is the ruling party and favours Puerto Rico to remain a commonwealth.  The New Progressive Party favours Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Puerto Rico's election for governer contested