Ballot error halts Puerto Rico’s poll

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico on Sunday was forced to partially suspend voting for primaries marred by a lack of ballots as officials called on the president of the U.S. territory’s elections commission to resign.

The primaries for voting centers that had not received ballots by early afternoon were expected to be rescheduled, while voting continued elsewhere, the commission said.

“I have never seen on American soil something like what has just been done here in Puerto Rico. It’s an embarrassment to our government and our people,” said Pedro Pierluisi, who is running against Gov. Wanda Vazquez to become the nominee for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.

Ms. Vazquez called the situation “a disaster” and demanded the resignation of the president of the elections commission.

“They made the people of Puerto Rico, not the candidates, believe that they were prepared,” she said. “Today the opposite was evident. They lied.”

Hundreds of frustrated voters who wore the required face masks and braved a spike in COVID19 cases were turned away across Puerto Rico as officials told them no ballots were available.

The unprecedented situation comes as the island of 3.2 million people has reported more than 8,500 confirmed cases of the virus and at least 274 deaths.

The president of the governor’s party, Thomas Rivera Schatz, and the president of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party held a joint news conference and said they agreed the remaining primaries should be held on Aug. 16 — a move that Ms. Vazquez said she supported.

Other politicians argued that the entire primary be scrapped and held at another date.