2003News

Gender and the vote

Today?s headlines were naturally focused on George Bush and Iraq, but the second lead story in the Diario Libre was about Dominicans and the vote. It seems that 77% of the voting population has no qualms in voting for a woman for president. Only 21% said that they would not vote for a woman, while 2% were unsure. 26.5% of men responded that a woman would not get their vote, while women were overwhelmingly less biased, with 82.8% registering their approval. Middle class voters were less prone to break the sexist taboo, with 75.4% in favor, compared to 80.4% from the upper classes and 77.3% from the lower classes.
Of the three leading political parties, only the PRD has a woman aspirant to the presidential candidacy, Vice President Milagros Ortiz Bosch.