Popular Democratic Party (PPD) at-large Representative Ramón Torres took to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the case of allegedly issued unofficial voter identification cards, including one he alleges was printed on an unofficial machine at the New Progressive Party (PNP) committee in Arecibo. In an October 2 letter to Carlos R. Goris, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Juan office, the legislator requested a federal investigation because the facts "may constitute a form of cybercrime," which falls under the agency’s jurisdiction.
The FBI received the letter on Monday, according to a stamp on the document. Torres asked that the use of unofficial voter cards "with a real possibility of being 'cloned' or reproduced by electronic means, for different electoral events" be investigated, citing high public interest in the purity and transparency of the electoral process. The case arose when a voter went to replace his voter ID card with State Elections Commission (CEE) registration officers, who determined the document was not official and had not been issued by the CEE.
Torres first brought the matter to the CEE, whose president, Jorge R. Rivera Rueda, referred the case on September 8 to the Puerto Rico Department of Justice to determine whether a crime was committed. Article 12.12 of the Electoral Code makes it a felony to falsify, imitate or obtain a voter ID card without entitlement, or to try to pass off a false card as genuine.
On Friday, Traffic Safety Commission director José "Memo" González, who sought the PNP nomination for Arecibo mayor in 2024, declined to discuss the case, saying "that is a matter that is with the authorities."