Rubio coasts to victory in Puerto Rico primary

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida easily won Puerto Rico’s Republican presidential primary Sunday, with supporters saying he would help lift the island out of its long economic slump.

Residents of the U.S. island, which is struggling through a decade-long economic stagnation, cannot vote in the general election in November but they can take part in the party primaries.

The only other people allowed to submit absentee ballots in the territory were military members, but party officials said they did not yet know how many of those had been cast.

Any registered voter could take part, but only if they signed a document of affiliation with the Republican Party moments before casting a ballot.

Voters said in interviews that they want a U.S. president who will help Puerto Rico emerge from a decade of recession and a debt crisis that threatens basic government services.

Edwin Mundo, electoral commissioner for Puerto Rico’s Republican Party, said budget cuts forced it to reduce the number of polling places to 110 from more than 3,000 in 2012, dramatically reducing turnout.