Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vazquez concedes primary loss as island resumes elections

WLRN Public Media | By Bianca Padró Ocasio,

Syra Ortiz-Blanes

Published August 18, 2020 at 7:46 AM EDT

A volunteer scans a voter’s hands before he casts his ballot in LoÃza, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. Thousands of Puerto Ricans on Sunday got a second chance to vote for the first time, a week after delayed and missing ballots marred the original primaries in a blow to the U.S. territory’s democracy.

Puerto Rico resumed its primary elections without significant issues on Sunday, a week after electoral officials suspended the event when precincts across the island did not receive ballots or began the voting process late after a delay in the arrival of voting materials.

Close to 8 p.m., with 71% of precincts reporting, Gov. Wanda Vázquez, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (NPP), conceded to primary opponent Pedro Pierluisi, who was leading with 58% of the vote. Pierluisi previously served as Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in Congress and was briefly sworn in as interim governor after the dramatic ousting of former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló in 2019.

The island’s Supreme Court later ruled that the swearing in was unconstitutional.

Read more from our news partner at the Miami Herald.