Elections update

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - In Brief 12 May 2016 by Pavel Isa

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This Sunday May 15 the Dominican Republic will hold national elections. These elections are complex because they are simultaneously at three levels: for President and Vice-President, for Congress (32 senators and 190 representatives), and municipal authorities. 158 Mayors (and deputy mayors) will be elected and 1,164 members of municipal councils. It is the first time since 1994 that vote for all elective positions will take place in a single event. A total of 4,213 posts are up for grabs. 26 political parties, one provincial movement and seven municipal movements will participate. There are 7 nominated for President. The complexity of these elections involves serious organizational challenges that if not properly face can create tensions. The last two national surveys reiterate the enormous advantage in the electoral preference that President Danilo Medina has over Luis Abinader, his closest opponent. The SIN-Mark Penn late April survey estimated the voting preference for Medina at 62% and for Abinader at 28%. CID Latin America estimated preference for Medina at 65% and 29% for Abinader. Both indicated that preferences for Guillermo Moreno are at 2%, and for the rest at less than 1%. The surprise of the surveys is that competition for the Mayor of the National District (Santo Domingo, the capital city) is much more disputed than previously thought. SIN-Mark Penn said there is a tie between candidates of PLD and allies (Roberto Salcedo, current incumbent) and the PRM and allies (Representative David Collado), while other surveys give advantage to one or the other but margins are much lower than expected. Salcedo was expected to have a big lead.