In democracies that will hold elections this year, one thing is on the mind of every election official: how to safeguard the democratic process while also safeguarding the lives of every person exercising the right to vote.

This is true in Puerto Rico, which on Sunday held primaries for our local political parties in preparation for our general election on Nov. 3. Unfortunately, however, what was supposed to be an expression of democracy turned out to be an unprecedented and disgraceful farce. The primaries were canceled for a lack of ballots.