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) › § 4146 - Special elections

(1) District legislator elected in representation of a political party. —
(a) Before the fifteen (15) months preceding the holding of a general election. — Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of a district senator or representative elected in representation of a political party before the fifteen (15) months preceding the following general election.
(i) The political party shall have a term of sixty (60) days following the date of notice of such vacancy to present before the Commission a candidate to fill the same. Within said term, the political party may adopt an alternate substitution method in order to fill the vacant office insofar as it is approved by its central governing body and it complies with the guarantees of due process and equal protection of the law. When a political party presents only one candidate, the Chair shall certify that said candidate is entitled to take office.
(ii) In the event that the political party does not adopt an alternate substitution method and has proposed more than one (1) candidate, the Governor shall, within thirty (30) days of the filing of the candidacy, call a special election in such district where the vacancy arose. Only such candidates certified by the political party concerned may participate in such special election.
(iii) The special election shall be held not later than ninety (90) days after it was called and the person elected in said special election shall hold the office until the term of his/her predecessor has expired.
(iv) When the political party has failed to present a candidate within sixty (60) days, the Governor shall, within thirty (30) days of the expiration of said term, call a special election in which any voter affiliated to any political party may participate as a candidate, as well as any independent candidate.
(b) Fifteen (15) months prior to a general election. — When, within the fifteen (15) months preceding a general election, a vacancy occurs in the office of a district senator or representative who was elected in representation of a political party, said office shall be filled by the Presiding Officer of the corresponding Legislative Body by proposal of the central governing body of the political party to which such senator or representative belonged.
(2) Legislator-at-large elected in representation of a political party. — Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of a senator or representative-at-large who has been elected in representation of a political party, said office shall be filled by the Presiding Officer of the corresponding Legislative Body, by proposal of the political party to which such senator or representative belongs, with a person selected in the same manner as his/her predecessor.
(3) Independent legislator. — When a vacancy occurs in the office of a senator or representative elected as an independent candidate for a district or at-large, the procedure below shall be followed:
(a) The Governor, with the advice of the Commission, shall call the holding of a special election in the corresponding geographic delimitation within thirty (30) days following the date on which the vacancy occurred;
(b) any voter affiliated to a political party or duly qualified as a voter and who fulfills the requirements entailed by such office may be nominated as a candidate in said special election, and
(c) the special election shall be held not later than ninety (90) days after being called, and the person elected in such special election shall hold the office until the term of his/her predecessor has expired.
(4) Mayor or Municipal Legislator. — In the event of resignation, death, removal, total or permanent disability, or any other cause that creates a permanent vacancy in the mayor’s office, in a nonelection year, the Municipal Legislature shall notify in writing to the local governing body and the state governing body of the political party that chose the mayor whose office became vacant. Said notification shall be processed by the Secretary of the Legislature, who shall keep a record of the date and manner in which said notification was made. Said state governing body shall hold a special election among the party’s affiliated voters who elected the mayor whose office became vacant, within a term of sixty (60) days or less.
If the resignation, death, removal, total or permanent disability, or any other cause that creates a permanent vacancy in the mayor’s office takes place during an election year, the Legislature shall take notice of such vacancy and immediately notify the local governing body of the political party that elected the mayor whose office became vacant. Said notification shall be processed by the Secretary of the Legislature, who shall keep a record of the date and manner in which said notification was made and acknowledgment of receipt thereof. Said local governing body shall submit to the Legislature a candidate to substitute the resigning mayor within fifteen (15) days following the receipt date of the vacancy notice. If the local governing body fails to submit a candidate to the Legislature within the aforementioned term, the Secretary thereof shall notify such fact through the fastest means available to the President of the political party concerned, who shall proceed to fill the vacancy with the candidate proposed by the central governing body of the political party that elected the resigning mayor.
Any candidate for filling a vacancy in the mayor’s office shall meet all the requirements established in §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21, known as the “Autonomous Municipalities Act.’”
(5) Independent Mayor or Municipal Legislator. — Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor or municipal legislator elected as an independent candidate, the Governor, with the advice of the Commission, shall call the holding of a special election in the corresponding municipality within thirty (30) days following the date on which the vacancy occurred. The special election shall be held not later than ninety (90) days after being called, and the person elected in such special election shall hold the office until the term of his/her predecessor has expired.
However, whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor elected as an independent candidate within twelve (12) months before a general election, the provisions of §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21, known as the “Autonomous Municipalities Act”, shall be observed.
History —June 1, 2011, No. 78, § 9.006; Dec. 22, 2014, No. 239, § 35.