The wise use of public funds is a core condition for advancing Puerto Rico's recovery. Despite this, in the face of the island's insolvency situation, increasing salaries, as well as onerous hiring and overpriced purchases in state agencies, remain in clear disregard of limited public resources.

The State Elections Commission recently decided to appoint officials and implement substantial salary increases which add to questionable dynamics in a scenario of extreme precariousness. In the case of the SEC, these decisions come while concerns regarding insufficient funds to properly hold the August primary and the general elections arise.

With a payroll deficit estimated at nearly $6 million, debts for the purchase of electronic counting machines and a budget smaller than that requested to cover the events of the election year, the Commission's management´s arbitrariness, protected by the powers granted to the president by the new Electoral Law, is unjustifiable.

It is urgent that public structures -with all possible savings- work towards meeting their budgets rather than perpetuating the spending pattern. Particularly in the case of the SEC, which has served political parties as to the main employment center for their members even in periods when this would not be necessary.

SEC president, Juan Ernesto Dávila Rivera, sought to explain his decision by stating that was taken within the framework of Human Resources regulations and according to uniform compensations. He has also refused to provide details on the promotions of three of his close relatives. This information should be public since the Treasury pays for that and setting the example of the transparency of which the SEC should be the standard-bearer. These officials hold positions previously held by officials representing other parties as part of the political balance expected in an agency tasked with protecting the right to vote of all citizens.

The move comes less than a month after the approval of the controversial new Electoral Law, which expands the powers of the SEC president who just days after the law was approved, fired the vice presidents and undersecretaries appointed by the other parties.

The apparent intention of taking control of the SEC, stemming from the new Electoral law, was rejected by other political sectors because it attempts against the democratic essence of our electoral system. Although some areas had to be improved, the political representation provided by the previous law had served as a mechanism to regulate and control the agency responsible for overseeing the electoral system.

Given these legitimate questions, the SEC must work to ensure accountability, proving it´s an agency that respects the fiscal reality of Puerto Rico while keeping to the mission of guaranteeing transparent and reliable electoral processes, strengthening voter participation, ensuring the right to vote and protecting each vote as sacred, closing the door to fraud.

Public agencies must voluntarily adopt a responsible and transparent policy in the use of public funds, as part of a fiscal policy aimed at full economic recovery. The lack of such measures was one of the factors that plunged the government into a situation of fiscal precariousness with consequences that resulted in serious deficiencies and major difficulties to get the island’s recovery back on track.