Puerto Rico governmental line of succession
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(July 2019) |
| Process overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | ad hoc after the Governor is unable to perform his functions |
| Jurisdiction | executive branch |
| Headquarters | Office of the Governor |
| Key documents |
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ThePuerto Rico governmental line of successiondefines who may become or act asGovernor of Puerto Ricoupon the incapacity, death, resignation, or removal from office (byimpeachmentand subsequentconviction) of a sitting governor or a governor-elect.
Article IVof theConstitution of Puerto Ricoestablishes that when a vacancy occurs in the post of Governor said post shall devolve upon theSecretary of State,who shall hold it for the rest of the term and until a new governor has been elected and qualifies. In the event that vacancies exist at the same time in both the post of Governor and that of Secretary of State, the law establishes a line of succession upon theSecretaries.This line of succession is established byLaw No. 7 of 2005.
In the event that theGovernor-electdoes not qualify, or a permanent vacancy occurs in the office of Governor before the Governor-elect shall have appointed a Secretary of State, or before said Secretary, having been appointed, shall have qualified, theLegislative Assemblyjust elected elects a Governor who shall hold office until his successor is elected in the nextgeneral electionand qualifies.
With regard to a temporary vacancy in the office of Governor, such as the Governor's absence due to travel away from Puerto Rico and the absence of the Secretary of State, the line of temporary succession is not affected by the age of the temporary successor or serving in a recess appointment capacity. In those cases, for example, Secretary of JusticeRafael Hernández Colón,for example, could have served as temporary successor to GovernorRoberto Sánchez Vilellashould the Secretary of State also be absent, even though he was under 35 years of age. Likewise, Secretary of StateMarisara Pont Marchese,during her recess appointment, served in 2005 as Acting Governor during GovernorAníbal Acevedo Vilá's absences.
In the case of Secretary of StatePedro Pierluisi,the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, in a 9–0 decision, determined that he could not ascend to the governorship whenRicardo Rossellóresigned because he held the position in a recess appointment capacity and was therefore precluded from being in the line of permanent succession to the governorship.
The Constitution establishes that the governor of Puerto Rico has to be at least 35 years old to serve.
Current order[edit]
The table below shows the current governmental line of succession as established byArticle IVof theConstitution of Puerto Ricoand further defined by Law No. 7 of 2005. However, those in the line of succession must still satisfy the constitutional requirements for the office of governor in order to serve. In the table, the absence of a number in the first column indicates that the incumbent is ineligible, either because the incumbent holds a recess appointment, as was the case of former Secretary of State Elmer Román, or because the incumbent does not have the minimum age, as was the case of Secretary of the Treasury Francisco Parés.