Top official washes his hands of questioned elections

Santo Domingo.- Central Electoral Board president RobertoRosario on Thursday said sectors which played at "chaos and disorder” soughtto impose a boycott on the electoral process, “to prevent having timely andprecise results."

In a televised speech Rosario said it was precisely becauseof the poll’s complexity that all parties approved the electronic vote-count in2014, but “just in a few days a change in the process was forced tore-introduce the manual count.”

He said 76 percent of the electronic counting machines wereused, with accurate results, but that those who felt they were losing thenobstructed the count.

After blaming the actors except the JCE, for the incidents afterthe elections, Rosario said the laws on political parties and electoral systemmust be passed.

Unilateral position

Local media report that Rosario’s position wasn’t consultedwith his four colleagues in the JCE, where member Eddy Olivares challenged him toexplain the numerous irregularities detected during and after elections, whichhave cast doubts about its results.