Contrary to what has happened in past elections when the government only trickled funds to the Junta Central Electoral, the body in charge of organizing the election, the Balaguer administration has fulfilled its commitment to the JCE maintaining the flow of resources as budgeted, permitting the Junta to carry out its program as scheduled.
Last week, Dr. César Estrella Sadhalá, president of the JCE, told the press that the organizational work for the elections is 90% complete. He attributed this to the fact that the government has religiously fulfilled its financial commitments on time, “never failing, not even in one month”. Dr. Estrella Sadhalá said that they have yet to retrieve the uncollected cedulas from around the country, make a cut-off and then issue the new voters list that will be handed to the parties on 25 March. A final version will then be issued on 16 April.
Based on that list, the Junta will determine how many people will be allocated to each voting center throughout the country, and determine if it is necessary to revise some tables, abolish others or decide if they need to be relocated.
He explained that to avoid confusion, the list to be published will specify the place where each center will be located. He said that voting materials will be distributed in good time to avoid last minute confusion.
He said some 60,000 people will work in the election at some 10,000 centers sited throughout the nation. The people so employed will come principally from educational institutions, like the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Universidad Tecnológica del Cibao, the Instituto Técnico de Santo Domingo and from Catholic and Protestant churches.