The Central Electoral Board (JCE) will distribute its monthly allocation of RD$30 million to the political parties today, while meetings between party leaders and the President are also scheduled to discuss current national and international issues.
Representatives of the three main parties, Henry Mej?a (PRD), V?ctor G?mez Berg?s (PLD) and C?sar Pina Toribio (PRSC) have committed themselves to working together with the JCE to support and encourage Dominicans living overseas to vote in future elections. Despite general enthusiasm for overseas electoral participation, Hoy newspaper mentions that according to the JCE’s overseas electoral advisor, Luis Arias N??ez, only 6,000 voters residing outside the Dominican Republic are registered to vote in 2004. The reasons for this include poor promotion and the fact that many Dominicans living abroad do not possess the required ?c?dula? (national ID and voting card). This situation requires increased efforts on the part of the main political parties and the JCE, concluded Arias N??ez. Centers to promote Dominican participation in elections have been opened in the US, Canada, Spain, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, home to hundreds of thousands of Dominicans.
In the latest Rumbo-Gallup poll results, Diario Libre compares further scenarios for the next presidential election and finds that the PLD comes out consistently strongest: Former Vice President Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal would beat incumbent Hip?lito Mej?a and former President L?onel Fernandez would win against current Vice President Milagros Ort?z Bosch.