The president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Judge Luis Arias announced the opening of the 2004 presidential campaign today. This is days earlier than Electoral Law 275-97 dictates. With Election Day slated for Sunday, 16 May, so far, the PLD and the PRSC have registered their candidates. The PRD held its primary on Sunday, with President Hipolito Mejia winning 95% of the votes against his politically unknown contender, Dr. Frank Joseph Thomen, and validating his candidacy. The party must still convene a national assembly to proclaim the candidacy and then register it at the JCE. Electoral law establishes that the registration must be signed by the party’s president, Hatuey Decamps, and secretary general, Rafael Subervi Bonilla. Decamps had won the candidacy in an earlier primary held in December, which was later overruled by the JCE. Under current electoral law, the PRD has until 17 March to register its Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates.