Delegate Selection Plan for 2020
Puerto Rico Democrats are committed to a transparent process that ensures that delegates from Puerto Rico to the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee are representative of the voters. That is why our Delegate Selection Plan process has been and continues to be an open, inclusive and public matter.
In accordance with the Democratic National Committee’s rules, the Plan was opened for public comment for a 30 day-period beginning on 3/30/2019. The deadline to submit comments ended on 4/30/2019 at 5:00 PM.
We are grateful to all of our fellow Democrats who submitted their comments to the Puerto Rico Delegate Selection Plan.
We invite you to view our Plan as it was approved in “Full Compliance” by the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee on October 22, 2019. By then only 7 states and the territory of Puerto Rico had been approved out of 57 DNC jurisdictions (50 States, District of Columbia, 5 Territories, and Democrats Abroad) entitled to send delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
We invite you to review our Delegate Selection Plan and encourage all Democrats of Puerto Rico to participate in the process.
District Map for Delegates (Spanish)
Summary of Delegate Selection Process
Update on Puerto Rico’s Democratic Presidential Primary
The filing deadline for district-level delegates is January 29, 2020. However, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is considering Senate Bill 1314, an Elections Reform bill, that includes a chapter setting up presidential primaries process and repealing the current Compulsory Presidential Primaries Act. If enacted, this bill would dramatically simplify the process of electing district-level delegates. The current law requires two ballots for the primary: one for voters to express their presidential candidate preference and a second ballot to elect district level delegates. The bill would eliminate the ballot to elect district-level delegates; therefore, only the presidential preference ballot would remain. The candidates for district-level delegates would still have to file with the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico (DPPR), but could do it at a later date closer to the primary election. This means that there would be no need for district-level delegates to file 60 days prior to the primary, i.e. January 29, 2020, in order to have their names in the ballots. The Elections Reform bill would allow us to move the filing date closer to the primary date and would not represent any delay for absentee voting. The Senate President is the author of the bill and assures the bill should be approved in the Legislature and by the Governor not later than January 27,2020.
In the alternative, if the bill is not approved in a timely manner, DPPR is inclined to formally request the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee (RBC) and the President of the Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections (PRSCE) for a reasonable extension beyond January 29, 2020 given the difficulties triggered by power shortages and communications disruptions caused by recent earthquake events in the island.
Also, regarding the double filing requirement for the application form for district-level delegates and considering the emergency and communications problems caused by the earthquakes, the President of the PRSCE has determined to accept as valid all district-level delegate application forms filed online or by mail with the DPPR. Thus, there will be no need to submit by mail a copy of the application form to the President of the PRSCE.
This update has been informed to the different presidential national campaigns.
We apologize for the inconvenience these changes may cause, but we believe they are necessary given the emergency situation Puerto Rico is going through.
We urge everyone to stay informed by accessing www.prdems.org.