Shortly after President Danilo Medina scheduled a 15 May 2017 meeting for the National Council of the Magistracy that will choose the replacement judges for the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the TSE court annulled a Central Electoral Board (JCE) decision that had reinstated the composite count of votes to decide the majority order of political parties in the country. The majority order is crucial for the parties to have access to 80% of taxpayer funds for political activities.
TSE presiding judge Mariano Rodríguez confirmed the criteria to be applied for the categorization of the political parties is that set in Act 31/2016 dating 8 May 2016.
The newly appointed judges of the JCE had ruled on 7 February 2017 against a previous JCE order that was dated 8 May 2016, only a week before the general election date, whereby the political parties order would be decided only by the presidential vote, and not by the presidential, congressional and municipal votes as in the past.
The new decision benefits the PRD, a close ally to the PLD into the 2016 election, and whose votes in favor of changing the constitution allowed for the re-election of President Danilo Medina, protested this decision.
The decision reestablishes party rank as follows: PLD in first place, PRM in second place, PRD in third and PRSC in fourth place.
The change in the ranking affects the funds the party receives from the Central Electoral Board for partisan activities.
The five judges of the TSE are scheduled to be removed and replaced during the 15 May 2017 vote for new judges by the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM), given that their terms have expired.
27 April 2017
