Puerto Rican officials start counting disputed votes after ruling

Elections officials began counting thousands of disputed ballots on Thursday, one day after a federal appeals court ruling that dealt a blow to the pro-statehood candidate's efforts to have them invalidated. Officials have started including the ballots in an ongoing recount of the extremely close Nov. 2 elections, said Aurelio Gracia, the president of the State Elections Commission.  "I think we should count them for the precision and order of the process,'' he said.  The decision came a day after the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled that Puerto Rico's Supreme Court, not a federal judge on the island, had jurisdiction over the ballots, which mostly favor Anibal Acevedo Vila, the candidate who supports keeping the island's status as a U.S. commonwealth. The ruling was a defeat for former Gov. Pedro Rossello, who had asked U.S. District Judge Daniel Dominguez to throw them out. Puerto Rico's Supreme Court already declared the ballots valid in an earlier lawsuit.  Leaders of Rossello's New Progressive party have said they are considering appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Acevedo Vila, of the Popular Democratic Party, suggested that Wednesday's ruling all but ensured he would prevail in the recount.  Preliminary election results from Nov. 2 showed Acevedo Vila narrowly leading Rossello 48.38 percent to 48.18 percent.  The disputed elections have intensified divisions in the Caribbean island of 4 million residents who have argued for decades over whether the island should remain a U.S. possession, become a U.S. state or move toward independence. [more]

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