2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SIXTEEN - Election and Registration (§§ 1 — 4255) › Subtitle 6 - Election Code (2011) › Chapter 409 - Canvass (§§ 4191 — 4209) › § 4205 - Minority party representation

After the Commission has conducted the general canvass and determined the eleven (11) candidates elected as senators-at-large, the eleven (11) candidates elected as representatives-at-large, the two (2) senators for each senate district, and one (1) representative for each representative district, it shall proceed to determine the number and the names of the additional candidates of the minority parties who shall be declared as elected, if any, in accordance with Section 7 of Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico. The Commission shall declare them elected and issue the appropriate certificate of election to each of said candidates of the minority parties.
(1) In order to implement the provisions of subsection (a) of Section 7 of Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico, when a party that failed to poll two-thirds of the total number of votes cast for the office of Governor did poll more than two-thirds of the total number of votes cast for the candidates for one or both legislative chambers, the additional senators or representatives corresponding to each of said minority parties shall be determined as follows:
(a) The number of votes cast for the candidate for the office of Governor of each minority party is divided by the total number of votes cast for the candidate for the office of Governor of all minority parties;
(b) such quotient is multiplied by nine (9), in the case of senators, and by seventeen (17), in the case of representatives, and
(c) the total number of senators or representatives elected from each party by direct vote is then subtracted from the product of the previous multiplication.
The result of the last mathematical operation indicated above shall be the number of additional senators and representatives to be adjudicated to each minority party, until completing the appropriate number, so that the number of minority party members in such cases where subsection (a) of Section 7 of Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico applies is nine (9) in the Senate or seventeen (17) in the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.
(2) For the purposes of the provisions of subsection (b) of Section 7 of Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico, when a party that has indeed polled more than two-thirds of the total number of votes cast for the office of Governor polls more than two-thirds of the total number of votes cast for the candidates for one or both legislative houses, if there should be two (2) or more minority parties, the number of senators or representatives for each of said minority parties shall be determined by dividing the number of votes cast for the candidate for the office of Governor of each minority political party by the total number of votes cast for the candidate for the office of Governor of all political parties, and multiplying the result by twenty-seven (27) in the case of the Senate of Puerto Rico, and by fifty-one (51) in the case of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. In this case, any fraction of less than one-half of one resulting from the operation expressed herein shall be discarded and not considered. The result of the operation indicated herein shall be the number of senators or representatives that shall correspond to each minority party, and, insofar as possible, this shall be the total number of senators or representatives of said minority party. There shall never be more than nine (9) senators or more than seventeen (17) representatives for all the minority parties combined. In case any fractions result from the aforementioned operation, the largest fraction shall be considered as one in order to complete said number of nine (9) senators and seventeen (17) representatives from all the minority parties, and, if in the process, said number of nine (9) or seventeen (17) were not completed, then the next largest remaining fraction shall be considered, and so on, until the maximum number of nine (9) in the case of the Senate of Puerto Rico, and seventeen (17) in the case of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, has been completed for all the minority parties.
In applying the third from last paragraph of Section 7 of Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico, every fraction of less than one-half of one shall be discarded and not considered; and, in the event there are two (2) equal fractions, a special election, as per the provisions of this subtitle, shall be held. No minority party shall be entitled to additional candidates or to the benefits provided by Section 7 of Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico, unless in the general election it polled, for its candidate for Governor, a number of votes equal to three percent (3%) or more of the total number of votes cast in said general election for all the candidates for Governor.
History —June 1, 2011, No. 78, § 10.015.