Dominican Republic general election, 2016

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Dominican Republic general election, 2016
← 2012 15 May 2016 2020 →
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Candidate Danilo Medina Luis Abinader
Party PLD PRM
Popular vote 2,847,414 1,613,207
Percentage 61.74% 34.98%
President before election

Danilo Medina
PLD

 Elected President

Danilo Medina
PLD

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General elections were held in Dominican Republic on 15 May 2016 to elect a president, vice-president and the National Congress, as well as 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament, municipal councils, mayors and vice mayors.[1][2] On 15 May 2015 Roberto Rosario, president of the Central Electoral Board, said that there would be about 4,300 seats up for election in the "most complex elections in history".[3]

Background

The previous parliamentary elections were held in 2010, and fresh elections would have usually been due in 2014 as Congress has a four-year term. However, in an effort to revert to the pre-1996 system and synchronize the dates of presidential and parliamentary and local elections in a single electoral year, the congressional term starting in 2010 was exceptionally extended to six years in order for the next congressional and municipal elections to be held alongside the next presidential elections due in 2016.

On 19 April 2015 the political committee of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party decided, without consensus, to amend the constitution to allow a president to be re-elected once, allowing incumbent President Danilo Medina to be presented for re-election, based on his high poll ratings.[4] This led to tensions between party members and leaders, especially amongst supporters of Leonel Fernandez who was a pre-candidate for the elections. There was also an impasse in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, where senators and representatives close to Fernandez stated that they would not vote in favour of the Act to Call the Revising National Assembly to amend the constitution.[5][6][7] After several weeks of internal disputes, the political committee, including Fernandez and Medina, agreed on 28 May to vote for the amendment.[8] The amendment passed the Chamber on June 2.[9]

Electoral system

The President of the Dominican Republic is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives more than 50% plus 1 of the vote, a second-round runoff will be held in June 2016. Presidents are limited to serving two consecutive terms of four years.

In the Congress, the 190 members of the Chamber of Deputies of which 178 are elected from 32 constituencies based on the 31 provinces and the Distrito Nacional; the number of seats is based on the population of each province, while 7 are elected in a separate constituency for expatriates and 5 allocated nationally to under represented lists. The elections are held using closed list proportional representation, with seats allocated using the d'Hondt method.[10] The 32 members of the Senate are elected from the 31 provinces and the Distrito Nacional using first-past-the-post voting.[11]

Voting is compulsory.[10]

Results

President

Candidate Party Votes %
Danilo Medina Dominican Liberation Party 2,847,414 61.74
Luis Abinader Modern Revolutionary Party 1,613,207 34.98
Guillermo Moreno García Country Alliance 84,399 1.83
Elías Wessin Chávez Quisqueyano Christian Democratic Party 20,422 0.44
Pelegrín Castillo National Progressive Force 16,283 0.35
Minou Tavárez Mirabal Alliance for Democracy 16,254 0.35
Hatuey De Camps Revolutionary Social Democratic Party 8,264 0.18
Soraya Aquino National Unity Party 5,677 0.12
Invalid/blank votes 96,828 –
Total 4,708,746 100
Registered voters/turnout 6,765,245 69.60
Source: JCE

Senate

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Dominican Liberation Party 28 –3
Modern Revolutionary Party 2 New
Social Christian Reformist Party 1 0
Institutional Social Democratic Bloc 1 +1
Invalid/blank votes – – –
Total 100 32 0
Registered voters/turnout 6,765,245 – –
Source: JCE

Chamber of Deputies

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Dominican Liberation Party and allies 125 +10
Modern Revolutionary Party and allies 46 New
Social Christian Reformist Party and allies
with MRP
 14 +11
Dominican Revolutionary Party and allies
with DLP
 0 –75
Invalid/blank votes – – –
Total 100 190 +7
Registered voters/turnout 6,765,245 – –
Source: JCE

Post-election riots

The electoral process was marked by serious irregularities, such as the expulsion of opposition delegates when starting the count, disappearance of ballot boxes, burning ballots, fires in provincial electoral boards , altered tally sheets, and the appearance of ballots from different provinces in the same urn. Large demonstrations and riots in San Pedro de Macorís53 that have left with 6 muertes.54 occurred

The Interamerican Union of Electoral Organizations reported serious irregularities in the assembly of the general elections in Republic Dominicana.

The electoral authorities decided to cancel the votes cast massively one-third of polling stations both Santo Domingo Oeste, and the District Nacional.

Various sectors of the opposition have demanded the dismissal of the chairman of the Joint Central Electoral.

References

  1. ↑ Elections in the Dominican Republic : May 20 Presidential Election IFES
  2. ↑ Daily News DR1, 13 September 2013
  3. ↑ Falta un año para las elecciones más complejas elCaribe, 15 May 2015 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ PLD someterá reforma a la Constitución para la reelección Diario Libre, 20 April 2015 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Diputados de Leonel se rebelan contra CP del PLD El Nacional, 20 April 2015 (Spanish)
  6. ↑ Senadores del sector leonel dicen sería "incoherente" restablecer reelección Santiago Informa (Spanish)
  7. ↑ Legisladores peledeístas en desacuerdo con línea del Comité Político DiarioLibre, 21 April 2015 (Spanish)
  8. ↑ PLD presenta acuerdo entre Danilo Medina y Leonel Fernández Listin Diario, 28 May 2015 (Spanish)
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies) IPU
  11. ↑ Senado (Senate) IPU

External links

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