More than 4,000 members of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) had gathered by about 10:00 AM. Sunday at the Ponce Fairgrounds Complex for the party’s general assembly, where new members of the Governing Board (Junta de Gobierno) are being chosen. Secretary General Manuel Calderón Cerame said the party had expected 2,500 to 3,000 participants. The start was delayed because people kept arriving, and Calderón Cerame opened the proceedings at about 11:07 AM. He told El Nuevo Día that voting stays open while people remain in line, including past 11:30 AM, under the voting manual.
Inside the venue, thousands voted in booths for the new at-large members of the board, the party’s governing body. The 10 candidates are legislators Marially González Huertas, Swanny Enit Vargas, Ada Álvarez Conde and Ramón Torres; Loíza Mayor Julia Nazario and Coamo Mayor Juan Carlos García Padilla; José "Pepe" Varela Fernández; Nina Valedón; and Bryan Saavedra.
Attendees mostly wore red and white and carried PPD and Puerto Rican flags, under the slogan "Todo por el Cambio" ("Everything for Change"). The program called for certifying the quorum at noon and for PPD President Pablo José Hernández Rivera to speak at 12:30 PM; he is expected to elaborate on the party’s "refounding" concept.
Videos of Luis Muñoz Marín, Rafael Hernández Colón, Victoria "Melo" Muñoz, Felisa Rincón, Celeste Benítez and Sila María Calderón were shown, with Calderón the most applauded. Former governors Alejandro García Padilla and Aníbal Acevedo Vilá attended.