Colegios cerrados, or closed voting stations, one of the new mechanisms of the electoral system, are a simple matter, electoral judge Aura Celeste Fernández told the press last week. She said it is not true that voters will be enclosed in a polling station for hours. The closed system was decided upon following the electoral problems in 1994. Judge Fernández confirmed that men and women will vote separately. The JCE has yet to decide which sex will vote in the morning and which in the afternoon.
Seeking to clarify the new mechanism in place for 1996, the judge said that the election will be divided in two parts: the first hours of the voting period will be dedicated to the registry of the electors (formulario de concurrentes) and then the actual voting will take place. A person who arrives a minute after the close of the polling station’s registration period will not be able to vote.
The law defines the colegios cerrados as polling stations established by the Junta Central Electoral so that voters are gathered as publicly summoned and they can exercise their vote, following identification and preparation of a special form for participants. That is, a closed electoral college and a polling station, as known in the past, are almost the same thing. She explained that the previous polling station No. 1 will now be colegio cerrado No. 1.
Dra. Fernandez feels the closed polling stations, as used in Puerto Rico, will make the expedite the process. She said there will be less people involved at one time because women and men will vote separately – starting at 6 am and 1 pm, and it is not true people will be enclosed in a polling station.
The colegios cerrados will have a maximum of 400 people, but if necessary could handle 600. For instance, at a station with 400 voters, 200 will vote in the morning and the rest in the afternoon.
Dra. Fernández further explained the procedure:
The second member of the colegio electoral goes through the line and picks up the first 10 voting cards. Brings them back to the electoral table. The first member then checks these against the padron electoral, or voting list to make sure they are on it. Immediately the cedulas are recorded on a special form for participants, where the name, cedula and number of the citizen is written down. The cedulas then are returned to the owners, and ten more voters are sought, further down through the line.
When the voting period is closed, about three hours later, the actual voting process begins. The president of the colegio will hand each voter a ballot which will have the seal of the electoral colegio on the back. The voter will go to the booth, where he will vote by placing an x or a cross in the box of the candidate of his choice. He will return to the president of the table so he may place his signature on the seal on the ballot. This system has been deigned to avoid the introduction illegitimate ballots. The president will instruct the voter on how he should close the ballot with the seal on the outside. The next step is to deposit the vote in the ballot box.
In each electoral colegio the people will work the entire day. The actual vote count will take place at the end of the close, when the last registered person has voted.
Dra. Fernandez said that if a station finishes with its assigned voters early in the morning, the voting process can begin earlier, but the time of closing will not be varied.
She said an extensive educational campaign will be carried out to explain the functioning of the new system to voters, but that training is not really needed. Those that need to be trained are the members of the colleges.