Tomorrow Dominicans elect Presidency and Congress authorities

Tomorrow, Sunday, May 19, 8,145,548 Dominicans are called to the polls to choose the president, vice president, 32 senators, and 220 deputies, who will take office on August 16 for the constitutional period 2024-2028. A total of 1,723 candidates are running for 33 parties.

The registry for these elections includes 7,281,763 voters in the country and 863,785 abroad. This will be the second general election this year since the municipal elections were held on February 18, in which 158 mayors and 235 municipal directors were elected.

People can exercise their vote between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., using only their identity and electoral cards, even if expired. Each voter will receive three ballots with the letters P, S, and D for president, senator, and deputy, respectively.

Staff & Schools

There are 16,726 polling stations for voting throughout the country, in which 83,630 officials would work. In addition, there will be about 33,452 technicians and 4,567 precinct coordinators. Meanwhile, 1,566 polling stations will operate abroad, with 7,830 polling station officials, technicians, and coordinators.

In addition, around 60,000 members of the Military Electoral Police and 20,000 members of the National Police will be in charge of security in the precincts and the country during voting day.

Presidential

The presidential proposals in this contest are: current President Luis Abinader together with Vice President Raquel Peña for the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM); Leonel Fernández, from Fuerza del Pueblo, with Ingrid Mendoza; Abel Martinez with Zoraima Cuello for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD); and Miguel Vargas and Joel Díaz for the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD).

Also aspiring are María Teresa Cabrera and Jesús José Díaz of the Frente Amplio; Fulgencio Severino and Francisca Peguero for Patria para todos (PPT); Carlos Peña and Nicauly de la Mota for Server Generation; Virginia Antares Rodríguez and Domingo Abreu, from Opción Democrática and Roque Espaillat and Ernesto Fadul from the Democratic Hope Party (PED).

Twenty-two parties nominate Abinader and Peña, Fernandez by four, and the other candidates are without alliances at the presidential level, although some are united at the congressional level.

Congress

There are 1,714 candidates competing for Congress, including the 178 deputies for the provinces and capital, the five national and overseas deputies, and the 20 deputies for the Central American Parliament (Parlacen).

Census

Of the total number of voters on the registry, 4,176,365 are women (51%), and 3,969,183 are men (49%). Most suffragettes are between the ages of 26 and 35, totaling 1,788,839.

The provinces with the majority of voters are Santo Domingo, with 1,649,032; Distrito Nacional, with 794,080; and Santiago de los Caballeros, with 785,287.

The countries with the most Dominican voters are the United States, with 613,340; Spain, 107,861; and Puerto Rico, 43,748.

News

For these elections, prison voting for pretrial inmates and accessible voting for people with some disability will be implemented for the first time.

The penitentiary vote will be applied in the precincts of the new penitentiary model and the prisons of Nagua, Azua, and Salcedo in a particular schedule from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

On the other hand, assisted voting is aimed at those who cannot move from their homes. However, it is only available in the National District and the province of Santo Domingo before registration.