Demonstrators Protest Puerto Rican Election

Dispute Before Federal Appeals Court In Boston A bitter election dispute that has intensified political divisions in Puerto Rico went before a federal appeals court Monday, as more than 100 demonstrators rallied outside for two candidates vying to be governor of the U.S. Caribbean territory. The question before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is whether the island's Supreme Court or a U.S. district judge in San Juan should have jurisdiction over thousands of disputed ballots favoring pro-commonwealth candidate Anibal Acevedo Vila of the Popular Democratic Party. Preliminary election results from Nov. 2 showed Acevedo Vila narrowly ahead of the pro-statehood contender, former Gov. Pedro Rossello of the New Progressive Party - 48.38 percent to 48.18 percent. On the ballots in question, voters marked an 'x' for the tiny Independence Party, but they also put marks next to the names of Acevedo Vila and Roberto Prats, the Popular Democratic Party's candidate for nonvoting delegate to U.S. Congress. Acevedo Vila's supporters say Puerto Rico's laws allow voters to mark one party in addition to candidates from other mainstream parties. But Rossello's lawyer, former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who represented George W. Bush in the disputed 2000 presidential election, argued that it is impossible to determine the voter's intent on those ballots.[more] and [more]