Dominican Republic presidential election, 2004

Last updated March 25, 2019

Presidential elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 16 May 2004.^[1] The result was a victory for former president Leonel Fernández, who defeated incumbent Hipólito Mejía. Voter turnout was 72.8%.^[2]

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.

Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna is a Dominican lawyer, academic, and was President of the Dominican Republic from 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2012. Since January 2016, he is the President of the EU–LAC Foundation.

Rafael Hipólito Mejía Domínguez, is a Dominican politician who served as President of the Dominican Republic from 2000 to 2004.

Candidates

Hipólito Mejía, serving president (2000-2004), representing the Dominican Revolutionary Party seeking immediate re-election.
Leonel Fernández, president from 1996-2000, representing the Dominican Liberation Party seeking a second (non-consecutive) term.
Eduardo Estrella of the Social Christian Reformist Party, a former senator and advisor to ex-president Joaquín Balaguer.

Dominican Revolutionary Party political party in Dominican Republic

The Dominican Revolutionary Party is one of the main political parties of the Dominican Republic. Traditionally a left of the centre position and social democratic in name, the party has shifted since the 2000s toward the centre-right. The party’s distinctive color is white. Traditionally, the party has two presidents: the "Titular President" and the "Acting President" ; until 2010 the Presidents and the Secretary-General were proscribed to run for any elected office.

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.

Eduardo Estrella Dominican Republic politician

Rafael Eduardo Estrella Virella is a civil engineer, entrepreneur and Dominican politician. He served as Secretary of State for Public Works and Communications of the Dominican Republic during the second term 1991–94, of President Joaquín Balaguer and also he served as Senator for the province of Santiago de los Caballeros during the period 1994–98.

Opinion polls in the run-up to election day showed Fernández leading with 54%, Mejía on 27%, and Estrella on 14%. In the previous weeks, however, Mejía had been gaining support while Fernández's numbers had been falling and, as a result, at one point it seemed possible that a second round run-off vote would have to be held between the two top candidates. Fernández's final result, in excess of 50%, meant that the second round was not necessary.

Overseas voting

The Dominican Republic introduced legislation in 1997 to enable Dominican citizens residing abroad to vote in presidential elections. This was the first time the provisions of that law were put into practice, with some 52,500 registered overseas voters eligible to vote at polling stations set up in several American cities including Miami and New York, as well as Montréal, Caracas, Madrid and Barcelona.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Caracas, officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and centre of the Greater Caracas Area. Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range. Terrain suitable for building lies between 760 and 1,140 m above sea level, although there is some settlement above this range. The valley is close to the Caribbean Sea, separated from the coast by a steep 2,200-metre-high (7,200 ft) mountain range, Cerro El Ávila; to the south there are more hills and mountains. The Metropolitan Region of Caracas has an estimated population of 4,923,201.

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Electoral officials noted that 52,500 was only a fraction of the overseas voters actually eligible to vote (one million Dominicans are estimated to live in the United States alone), but that the take-up rate was hampered by a lack of information regarding the necessary formalities and by bureaucratic hurdles (particularly, the requirement that up-to-date national ID cards be presented).

Results

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Leonel Fernández	Dominican Liberation Party	2,063,871	57.1
Hipólito Mejía	Dominican Revolutionary Party	1,215,928	33.7
Eduardo Estrella	Social Christian Reformist Party	312,493	8.7
Others		21,408	0.5
Invalid/blank votes		43,150	-
Total		3,656,850	100
Source: Nohlen

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References

↑ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p247 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
↑ Nohlen, p248

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[N1-1] Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p247 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6

[2] Nohlen, p248

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