2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SIXTEEN - Election and Registration (§§ 1 — 4255) › Subtitle 6 - Election Code (2011) › Chapter 408 - Procedures Before an Election; Voting (§§ 4141 — 4184) › § 4179 - Early voters

Duly qualified voters shall be entitled to voluntarily cast their advance vote if they are in Puerto Rico and fall under any of the following categories:
(a) Members of the Puerto Rico Police, up to two thousand and five hundred (2,500) voters, the Municipal Police Corps, the Correctional Officers Corps of the Corrections Administration, the Juvenile Correctional Officers of the Juvenile Detention Facility Administration, and the Puerto Rico Firefighter Corps who shall be on duty during voting on election day, and who are not on leave granted by the agency in question;
(b) Inmates of penal institutions in Puerto Rico.
(c) Persons who have attained the age of eighteen (18) by the day of the election and are under the custody of the Juvenile Detention Facility Administration.
(d) The members of the Commission, the Secretary, Vice Chairs and Deputy Secretaries, the Alternate Commissioners, the Members of local election commissions, their alternates, and members of the permanent registration boards, as well as those Commission employees assigned by the Commission to essential duties on the day of an election; the legal advisors of the Commissioners, and Commission employees assigned to the offices of the Election Commissioner. In the case of a special election or primary, the persons assigned to essential duties on the day of an election and the Chairs of the local commissions may cast their vote by mail or in person, as provided by the Commission.
(e) Employees of private companies contracted by the Commission and employees of government agencies required to provide technical and support services on the day of an election.
(f) Health professionals and employees who will offer essential services on the day of an election, during voting hours, and present proof thereof.
(g) Journalists and photojournalists accredited by the Department of State, who are assigned to work for a media outlet on the day of an election, and present proof thereof.
(h) Athletes and members of sports teams affiliated to Sports Federations recognized by the Sports and Recreation Department who are participating in sporting competitions outside of Puerto Rico on the day of an election.
(i) Professionals who will be outside of Puerto Rico on business within a term not to exceed fifteen (15) days before an election, but who can exercise their right to vote not later than two (2) days before the election.
(j) Persons who are admitted to a duly authorized hospital, treatment center, or long-term health care facility that can certify that they shall still be admitted therein on the day of an election.
(k) The judges of the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeals designated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to hear cases related to the voting process and who will be working on election day.
(l) Candidates for elective public office in the election that is taking place may voluntarily avail themselves of the advance vote.
(m) Persons with mobility disabilities (bedridden) who qualify as Easily Accessible at Home voters. The Local Commission shall be responsible for verifying, evaluating, and approving the petition pursuant to the applicable Regulations. Members of the Permanent Registration Boards shall record the petition as an easily accessible transaction. The Absentee Vote Administrative Board (JAVA, Spanish acronym) shall be responsible for handling said votes as early voting and for adjudicating them.
If an early voting is requested due to a medical condition that prevents the voter from attending a polling place, the Commission shall provide a form whereby the attending or treating physician of the voter certifies: that the voter suffers from a physical mobility impairment that prevents him from attending the polling center.
The Commission shall be responsible for regulating the procedure to be followed in order to ensure that persons with mobility disabilities (bedridden) may vote. In these cases the voting shall be handled as an early voting under the supervision of the Absentee Vote Administrative Board (JAVA, Spanish acronym) and coordinated by the Permanent Registration Board (JIP, Spanish acronym). The early voting process shall begin ten (10) days before the General Election and shall end at least one (1) day before the General Election; thus, sub-boards shall be created under the supervision of the Permanent Registration Board.
This early voting process shall be administered by a Political Party Balance Board, which guarantees the voter’s identity, that ballots be blank when handed over, and that every voter casts his vote independently and secretly in accordance with the provisions of this subtitle and Early Voting Regulations.
The Polling Place Board shall have the affirmative responsibility of guaranteeing that the voter has the capacity to consent and to cast his vote secretly. The capacity to consent is the voter being able to communicate individually and voluntarily through any of the following mechanisms: orally, in writing, and affirmative body gestures or signs equal or similar to those used by persons with speech, hearing, and vision impairments. It shall also imply that the voter casts his vote freely, independently, and secretly and without coercion.
(n) Persons who are carrying out tasks pertaining to the election event for any duly registered political party, certified as such by the appropriate party up to a maximum of one hundred (100) persons per party.
The Commission may include other advance vote categories, which shall require the participation and the unanimous vote of all Election Commissioners. Likewise, the Commission shall approve the regulations necessary for implementing new categories. These regulations shall be approved not later than the term established by law for the approval of the regulations for the general election and the general canvass.
History —June 1, 2011, No. 78, § 9.039; Nov. 21, 2011, No. 230, § 28; July 3, 2012, No. 135, § 38; June 17, 2014, No. 67, § 7; Dec. 22, 2014, No. 239, § 42.