2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SIXTEEN - Election and Registration (§§ 1 — 4255) › Subtitle 6 - Election Code (2011) › Chapter 402 - State Election Commission (§§ 4011 — 4025) › § 4019 - Powers and duties of the Chair

(1) The Chair shall be the Executive Officer of the Commission and be responsible for the execution and supervision of election-related processes within an atmosphere of absolute integrity and impartiality. In discharging such task, he/she shall have the powers, attributions, and prerogatives inherent to the office that are listed below, including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) Planning, carrying out, and supervising all election-related processes held pursuant to the provisions of this subtitle and the regulations adopted thereunder.
(b) Structuring and managing the main offices and divisions of the Commission, as they are detailed hereinbelow:
(i) Administration Office.— Shall supervise and coordinate the Office of Procurement, the Office of Finance, the Office of Budget, and the Office of General Services of the Commission.
(ii) Office of Legal Affairs.— Shall provide all legal services to the Commission.
(iii) Office of Press and Public Relations.— Shall coordinate the mass media dissemination of all the information of interest to voters in order to maintain the image of trustworthiness and credibility of our voting system.
(iv) Office of Education and Training.— Shall be responsible for training and developing human resources in the area of the Commission that is related to elections, so that said resources may carry out and offer high-quality services to citizens during election processes. Furthermore, it shall educate and provide orientation to voters regarding their right to vote. This office shall be subject to standards of political party balance.
(v) Office of Human Resources.— Shall be in charge of effectively managing human resources through the strategic planning, direction, counseling, and evaluation of processes that facilitate the achievement of the operational goals of the Commission in an organizational environment that fosters the integrated development of employees and the best performance of public service. This office shall be subject to standards of political party balance.
(vi) Office of Finance.— Shall comply with the general principles and standards of sound public administration in managing accounts related to income, allocation and disbursement of funds, property acquisitions, and pre-audits of fiscal transactions.
(vii) Office of Budget.— Shall advise the Chair of the Commission on the drawing of the budget, as well as in all budgetary and programmatic matters pertaining to administrative management. It shall also oversee the proper management of the budget according to sound norms of fiscal administration and in harmony with the purposes of the laws that set them forth.
(viii) Office of Procurement.— Shall be responsible for advising the Chair on the purchase of goods and services, always ensuring quality and market competition and the sound use of public funds pursuant to the laws and regulations currently in effect.
(ix) Office of General Services.— Shall be in charge of planning, coordinating, and supervising the Supplies Warehouse, Mail, Property, Photocopies, and Transportation divisions, as well as the Office of the Property Receiver. This office shall be subject to standards of political party balance.
(x) Office of Electronic Information Systems and Processing (hereinafter, OSIPE, Spanish acronym).— Shall maintain an electronic voter registry, manage and operate the adopted electronic voting or canvassing processes, and provide technical support to the divisions of the Commission. The necessary personnel shall be appointed to perform such function in order to comply with the foregoing. This office shall be subject to standards of political party balance.
(xi) Election Research Center.— Shall be in charge of periodically gathering election-related procedures and assessing them in light of technological, procedural, and legislative developments in Puerto Rico and other democratic jurisdictions. This office shall be subject to standards of political party balance.
(xii) Office of Conservation and Maintenance.— Shall maintain the physical facilities of the Commission in optimum conditions.
(xiii) Office of Election Affairs.— Shall guarantee that all active and potential voters, the Permanent Registration Boards, the Local Commissions, and the polling centers have the necessary information and materials for voters to exercise their right to vote. This office shall be subject to standards of political party balance.
(xiv) Office of Planning.— Shall coordinate and execute the geographical aspects of elections and maintain an updated registry of electoral units. This office shall be subject to standards of political party balance.
(xv) Office of Internal Security.— Shall maintain order, protect life and property in the Commission, and carry out any administrative inquiries referred thereto. This office shall be subject to standards of political party balance.
(xvi) The preceding list shall not prevent the consolidation or creation of new offices to meet a need for services. To consolidate or create new offices, the unanimous agreement of the Commission shall be necessary, and the Chair shall not be able to render a decision in the absence of unanimity.
(c) Selecting, recruiting, and appointing the personnel needed to carry out the purposes of this subtitle, as well as fixing their appropriate compensation according to the financial resources of the Commission and subject to the standards detailed below:
(i) Directors and deputy directors of the main divisions and offices who are appointed by the Chair shall be confirmed by a majority vote of the Commissioners. Provided, That the directors and heads, as well as the deputy directors and seconds-in-command of each division shall be identified as supporters of different major political parties. If there is a political party balance agreement in effect entered into by the Election Commissioners of the Major Parties, the official designated by the appropriate Commissioner shall be immediately appointed; provided, that said official meets all the minimum requirements for said office. The Commission shall have a term of six (6) months to reevaluate any political party balance agreement already entered into as of December 1 st, 2014 aimed at cutting back on public spending.
(ii) The personnel to be hired by the Commission to carry out special projects shall represent all major political parties and the third party that remained registered in a General Election or the first party by petition that registers immediately after the preceding General Election.
(iii) Any appointment of personnel shall be subject to the regulatory standards adopted to such effect, and no person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or of an election-related offense, may be appointed. Likewise, Commission personnel shall not be aspirants or candidates running for elective public office, with the exception of employees appointed to discharge functions in the offices of the Election Commissioners.
(iv) Those appointed officials of the Commission who are classified as “trust” employees are excluded from complying with the provisions of § 1822(i) of Title 3, known as the “Ethics in Government Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”, or any subsequent government ethics law of the Government of Puerto Rico.
(v) Any person who aspires to hold an office or position of trust or a political party balance in the State Election Commission shall be a qualified voter at the time he submits his job application and be an affiliated voter of the corresponding political party.
(vi) Any person who aspires to hold a position of trust or of political party balance shall also meet all the requirements established by said political party.
(d) The name of the candidate for the office of internal auditor shall be submitted by the Chair for the Commissioners’ consideration and unanimous confirmation. The internal auditor shall be charged with the oversight of fiscal transactions by verifying their legality, efficiency, effectiveness, and correctness; determining and identifying deficiencies, irregularities, and improper administrative practices; and formulating recommendations for the correction thereof. The Chair of the Commission shall assign the necessary personnel to comply with this purpose.
(e) The Commissioner of the majority major party shall submit to the Chair of the Commission the candidates for director of the Office of Electronic Information Systems and Processing, hereinafter OSIPE, so that the Chair may select among such candidates and confirm such appointment. OSIPE shall keep an electronic voting record, manage and operate the adopted electronic voting and canvassing processes, and offer technical support to the Commission’s departments. The necessary personnel shall be assigned to carry out such function.
(f) The Chair of the Commission shall appoint the deputy director of the OSIPE taking into consideration the recommendation of the Election Commissioner of the political party whose candidate for Governor came in second place in the previous general election.
A Board of Technical Advisors shall be constituted to serve the OSIPE, a consulting, investigative, and advising entity. The Board shall be composed of one representative of the Chair, and one representative of each Election Commissioner of the major political parties, parties, and parties by petition, all with the same rank and duties. The Board of Technical Advisors shall act in a collegial manner before the directors in all the procedures of those offices. It is hereby prohibited that the members of the Board of Technical Advisors evaluate any technical project with a supplier that has a financial or family relation with them up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity. The Board of Technical Advisors shall not intervene in the administrative affairs of the Offices. The Director of the OSIPE shall buy information technology equipment and contract technical services related to information technology systems offered by any business or individual with the unanimous consent of the Board of Technical Advisors. If unanimity cannot be reached, the matter shall be presented to the Commission, assembled as a whole, for resolution.
No official, employee or internal or external advisor of OSIPE may perform changes in connection with programming or planning without the express and unanimous authorization of the Board of Technical Advisors and the unanimous consent of the Election Commissioners.
(g) Contracting the services of those officials or employees of the Government of Puerto Rico who are specialists in the operation of electronic and mechanical systems and equipment for processing and organizing data, and such other personnel as necessary for the operations of the Commission, upon the previous written consent of the director or head of the government entity where the official or employee concerned renders services. In such cases, said personnel shall not be subject to the provisions of § 551 of Title 3, and shall be entitled to special compensation for all other services rendered to the Commission outside of regular business hours. Furthermore, such personnel may enter into collaboration agreements to request or offer cooperation to other departments, agencies, instrumentalities, and public corporations, as well as to any university. The approval of the Commission shall be required to request the cooperation of such personnel or to enter into collaboration agreements with other departments, agencies, instrumentalities, public corporations, or universities.
(h) Contracting professional and technical services, as well as any personnel that may be needed to implement the provisions of this subtitle. In the case of contract fees exceeding thirty thousand dollars ($30,000), the Chair must obtain the consent of the Commission to award such contracts.
(i) Preparing and managing the budget of the Commission pursuant to the regulations adopted to such effect. In this regard, he/she shall submit to the consideration of the Commission an annual expenses report, as well as a budget proposal to be used during the following fiscal year, which must be approved by the Commission.
(j) Requesting and obtaining the cooperation of other government agencies with regard to the use of human resources, offices, equipment, materials, and other necessary resources, thus government bodies are hereby authorized to cooperate with the Commission. The Commission shall approve any application to request the cooperation of personnel from other government agencies.
(k) Making recommendations to the Commission as he/she may deem necessary and convenient in connection with changes and matters under its jurisdiction.
(l) Educating and providing orientation to voters and political parties about their rights and obligations, using any available communications media and public information technique in order to do so.
(m) Rendering a report to the Commission, at each meeting, on election-related matters of an administrative nature considered and addressed by him/her since the last meeting.
(n) Drawing up and submitting for the Commission’s consideration such rules and regulations as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of this subtitle.
(o) Taking any other necessary and convenient actions to comply with this subtitle.
(p) Paying compensation or per diem, as determined by regulations, to any person entrusted by the Commission to conduct any investigation in connection with any challenge of voters.
(q) Directing, supervising, and carrying out, at the request of any political party affiliated to a national party or citizen group recognized by a national party, any internal election procedure in accordance with the determinations and rules established for such procedures in the bylaws of the petitioner, provided that such determinations and rules guarantee the full participation of the affiliates of the petitioner and the purity of the procedures on which this subtitle is based. No political body of those described herein may avail itself of the benefits of this provision more than once every four years.
(r) Subject to the provisions of this subtitle, selling to any person, entity, organization or group the publications and electronic files authorized by the Commission, except for the General Voter Registry, voter identification cards, ballots, and tally sheets that shall be used in an election. The Commission shall fix the sales price of such material through regulations, and the amount so obtained shall be covered into the special fund of the Commission for expenditures related to the automation of election processes.
(s) Imposing administrative fines for violations of the provisions of this subtitle that are not classified and penalized specifically as an election-related crime, in accordance with the following limits:
(i) For aspirants, candidates, independent candidates, and elected officials — Up to a maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the first violation and up to a maximum of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for subsequent violations, and
(ii) For political parties, campaign committees, authorized committees, political action committees, other juridical persons, and citizen groups certified by the Commission — Up to a maximum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the first violation and up to a maximum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for subsequent violations.
Before imposing any fine, the Chair shall serve the parties with an order to show cause for which the administrative fine should not be applied, giving them the opportunity to correct any error. The Commission shall establish, through regulations, the specific actions subject to a fine, as well as the applicable amount to each.
(2) Functions and duties of the First Vice Chair.— The First Vice Chair, in addition to any other duties and functions assigned to him/her by the Chair, and under the direction of the latter, shall inspect and report to the State Election Commission whether the work of the election operations, management, planning, auditing, personnel, security, and press areas has been complied with as established by the Commission through regulations, without it being construed that he/she is to direct and supervise, through his/her own initiative, the work of the heads and officials of the areas or divisions of the Commission, who shall answer directly to the Chair. The Chair shall have the authority to delegate onto the First Vice Chair any assignment, supervision, issue, or special project that has not been delegated by this subtitle to another Vice Chair.
(3) Functions and duties of the Second Vice Chair.— The Second Vice Chair, in addition to any other duties and functions assigned to him by the Chair of the State Election Commission, and under the direction of the latter, shall inspect and report to the State Election Commission whether the work of the Office of the Secretary, the Information Systems Center, Legal Affairs, Systems and Procedures, Education and Training, and the Election Research Center, has been performed as prescribed by the Commission through regulations, without it being construed as he is to direct and supervise the work of the heads and officials of the areas or divisions of the Commission, who shall answer directly to the Chair. The Chair shall have the authority to delegate to the Second Vice Chair any assignment, supervision, issue, or special project that has not been delegated by this subtitle to another Vice Chair. The foregoing shall not impair the authority of the Chair to delegate to the Second Vice Chair any task that he may deem pertinent. If there is no Third Vice Chair, the Chair of the State Election Commission shall delegate to any of the Vice Chairs or Offices the responsibility to inspect and report to the State Election Commission whether the work of the field operations area has been performed as prescribed by the Commission through regulations.
(4) Third Vice Chair.— The Third Vice Chair, in addition to any other duties and functions assigned to him/her by the Chair of the State Election Commission, and under the direction of the latter, shall inspect and report to the State Election Commission whether the work of the field operations area has been complied with as established by the Commission through Regulations, without it being construed that he/she is to direct and supervise the work of the heads and officials of the areas or divisions of the Commission, who shall answer directly to the Chair. The Chair shall have the authority to delegate to the Third Vice Chair any assignment, supervision, issue, or special project that has not been delegated by this subtitle to another Vice Chair.
History —June 1, 2011, No. 78, § 3.009; Nov. 21, 2011, No. 230, § 5; Dec. 22, 2014, No. 239, § 9.