Dominican Republic general election, 2016

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Dominican Republic general election, 2016
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg
←  2012 15 May 2016 2020  →
Registered6,765,245
Turnout4,708,746
  V Cumbre CELAC- Republica Dominicana (32130698470) (cropped).jpg
Candidate Danilo Medina Luis Abinader
Party PLD PRM
AllianceProgressive BlocConvergence for a Better Country
Popular vote2,847,4381,613,222
Percentage61.74%34.98%
President before election

Danilo Medina
PLD

Elected President

Danilo Medina
PLD

General elections were held in Dominican Republic on 15 May 2016 to elect a president, vice-president and the 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]

Dominican Republic country in the Caribbean

The Dominican Republic is a country located in the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean nation by area at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third by population with approximately 10 million people, of which approximately three million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city.

Central American Parliament international parliament

The Central American Parliament, also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City.

Contents

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.

Congress of the Dominican Republic bicameral legislature

The Congress of the Dominican Republic is the bicameral legislature of the government of the Dominican Republic, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Both senators and deputies are chosen through direct election. There are no term limits for either chamber.

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]

Dominican Liberation Party

The Dominican Liberation Party is the current governing political party in the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1973 by former president Juan Bosch, the party, along with the Dominican Revolutionary Party, have dominated politics in the country since the establishment of democracy.

Danilo Medina President of the Dominican Republic

Danilo Medina Sánchez is a Dominican politician and the current President of the Dominican Republic, since 2012.

Electoral system

The president was elected using the two-round system; if no candidate had received more than 50% plus 1 of the vote, a second-round runoff would have been held in June 2016. Presidents are limited to serving two consecutive terms of four years.

Two-round system voting system used to elect a single winner where a second round of voting is used if no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round

The two-round system is a voting method used to elect a single winner, where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate. However, if no candidate receives the required number of votes, then those candidates having less than a certain proportion of the votes, or all but the two candidates receiving the most votes, are eliminated, and a second round of voting is held.

In the Congress, the 190 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected in three groups; 178 were elected using proportional representation from 32 multi-member constituencies based on the 31 provinces and the Distrito Nacional, with the number of seats based on the population of each province. A further seven were elected by proportional representation in a separate constituency for expatriates and five allocated nationally to parties that received at least 1% of the vote, with preference given to those that did not win any of the 178 constituency seats.. [10] The 32 members of the Senate were elected from the 31 provinces and the Distrito Nacional using first-past-the-post voting. [11]

Provinces of the Dominican Republic first-level administrative divisions of the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is divided into thirty–one provincias, while the national capital, Santo Domingo, is contained within its own Distrito Nacional.

Distrito Nacional District in Dominican Republic

The Distrito Nacional (D.N.) is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not in any of the provinces, but in practice, it acts as a province on its own. Before October 16, 2001, the Distrito Nacional was much larger, including what is now known as Santo Domingo Province. Published statistics and maps generally show the former, larger, Distrito Nacional. The Distrito Nacional has no rural or undeveloped areas.

Senate of the Dominican Republic upper house of the Dominican Republics bicameral National Congress

The Senate of the Dominican Republic is the upper legislative chamber in the bicameral legislature of the Dominican Republic, and together with the Chamber of Deputies makes up the Congress.

Voting was compulsory. [10]

Coalitions

The coalition led by the Dominican Liberation Party includes:

The coalition led by the Modern Revolutionary Party includes:

Results

President

CandidatePartyVotes%
Danilo Medina Dominican Liberation Party and allies2,847,43861.74
Luis Abinader Modern Revolutionary Party and allies1,613,22234.98
Guillermo Moreno García Country Alliance 84,3991.83
Elías Wessin Quisqueyano Christian Democratic Party 20,4230.44
Pelegrín Castillo National Progressive Force 16,2830.35
Minou Tavárez Mirabal Alliance for Democracy 16,2560.35
Hatuey de Camps Revolutionary Social Democratic Party 8,2640.18
Soraya Aquino National Unity Party 5,6780.12
Invalid/blank votes96,783–
Total4,708,746100
Registered voters/turnout6,765,24569.60
Source: JCE

Congress

PartyVotes%Seats
Chamber+/–Senate+/–
Dominican Liberation Party 1,794,32541.79106+1026–2
Modern Revolutionary Party 877,10120.4342New2New
Social Christian Reformist Party 393,1259.1618+71–3
Dominican Revolutionary Party 336,2017.8316–611+1
National Unity Party 135,8663.160000
Alternative Democratic Movement 91,2222.121000
Social Democratic Institutional Bloc 90,5162.110–11+1
Country Alliance 63,0731.471New0New
Quisqueyano Christian Democratic Party 57,7861.351+100
Dominican Humanist Party 55,5311.290000
Civic Renovation Party 48,6891.130000
Broad Front 45,3101.061000
Dominicans for Change38,0300.890000
National Progressive Force 37,1970.870–100
Liberal Reformist Party 30,5030.713+31+1
Green Socialist Party 24,8230.580000
Christian Democratic Union 23,7650.550000
Dominican Workers' Party 21,4570.500000
Institutional Democratic Party20,8450.490000
Revolutionary Social Democratic Party 20,3230.470000
Christian People's Party 19,3740.451000
Alliance for Democracy 18,2770.430–100
Liberal Party of Action16,5620.390000
People's Democratic Party 11,9880.280000
Citizen's Will National Party10,5070.240New0New
Independent Revolutionary Party 10,2620.240000
Present Youth Movement5710.010New0New
Invalid/blank votes194,516–––––
Total4,487,745 100190–32–
Registered voters/turnout6,380,72270.33––––
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 Macorís that left six death 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 in one-third of polling stations in both Santo Domingo Oeste and the Districto Nacional.

Various oppositionparties have demanded the dismissal of the chairman of the JCE.

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References

  1. ↑ Elections in the Dominican Republic : May 20 Presidential Election Archived October 31, 2014, at the Wayback Machine . IFES
  2. ↑ Daily News DR1, 13 September 2013
  3. ↑ Falta un año para las elecciones más complejas elCaribe, 15 May 2015 (in Spanish)
  4. ↑ PLD someterá reforma a la Constitución para la reelección Diario Libre, 20 April 2015 (in Spanish)
  5. ↑ Diputados de Leonel se rebelan contra CP del PLD El Nacional, 20 April 2015 (in Spanish)
  6. ↑ Senadores del sector leonel dicen sería "incoherente" restablecer reelección Santiago Informa (in Spanish)
  7. ↑ Legisladores peledeístas en desacuerdo con línea del Comité Político DiarioLibre, 21 April 2015 (in Spanish)
  8. ↑ PLD presenta acuerdo entre Danilo Medina y Leonel Fernández Listin Diario, 28 May 2015 (in Spanish)
  9. ↑ Fieser, Ezra (2 June 2016). "Dominican Republic Approves Law Allowing Medina to Run in 2016". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  10. 1 2 Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies) IPU
  11. ↑ Senado (Senate) IPU
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