By: Staff Writer
January 23, 2023
The Dominican Republic heads to the polls on May 19 for its Presidential elections with three top contenders vying for the top spot, one of them a former two-time President.
Leonel Fernandez, the 50th and 52nd President of the DR, is on the ballot again for this year’s presidential elections. If successful, this would make Fernandez’s fourth non-consecutive term as President of the DR.
Fernandez first served from 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2008 and again from 2008 to 2012. Still a popular figure in the DR, Fernandez is running against incumbent president, Luis Abinader, a wealthy former businessman with experience in the tourism and construction sectors, is running for president for the third time. In 2016, he placed second with 35 percent of the vote, and in 2020, he won with 52.5 percent. Abinader campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, and his victory broke 16 consecutive years in power for the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD).
Also in the race is Abel Martínez in his first presidential run. A three-term former congressman, he served as the president of the Chamber of Deputies from 2010-16. In 2016, he was elected mayor of Santiago de los Caballeros, the country’s second-largest city, and was reelected in 2020. Martínez has won five consecutive elections and has been involved in the PLD since the 1990s.
Dominican Republic nationals living abroad can cast their votes in the upcoming presidential and general elections scheduled for May 19.
The move aims to preserve the voting rights of nearly 1 million Dominicans residing overseas.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Álvarez, and the President of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Román Jáquez Liranzo, solidified this momentous step by signing a collaboration and coordination agreement.
The agreement, signed on Thursday, signifies a commitment to ensure Dominican expatriates can exercise their civic duty in the upcoming elections.
Under this agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will actively engage with the governments of 32 countries and territories worldwide.
These include countries such as the United States, Panama, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, British Virgin Islands, Switzerland, and Belgium.
Their role will be to facilitate the smooth dispatch of electoral bags and provide crucial assistance to the JCE in opening bank accounts, and streamlining the logistical aspects of the voting process.
“Our country has managed to maintain its democratic stability, with increasingly reliable elections, and with government alternation since 1978. With its lights and shadows, this achievement is not the work of chance; It is the result of the efforts of Dominican society, including a responsible political leadership. This forces us to use all the means at our disposal to consolidate progress and strengthen our democratic processes. The importance of holding fair, free and transparent elections to maintain democracy should not be underestimated,” said Álvarez.
The list of voting stations will be provided by JCE and the organisation said polling stations will follow all regulations.
The projected cut-off date to register to participate in the election is next Sunday.
Jáquez Liranzo commented “approximately 875,000 Dominican men and women will be registered, which will represent 12 per cent of the Dominican electorate. Therefore, it will be the registry from abroad that will have the greatest impact on the elections.”