The judges of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) accepted the ruling by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) that reverted their ruling on the electoral order determined by the 2016 general elections. Weeks before the May 2016 election, the past JCE board had changed the way votes for the political party ranking would be determined. When the JCE board was changed, the new judges reverted the order, but this was then set back by the TSE Resolution 013-2017 dated 21 April 2017.
Prior to the 2016 decision by the JCE, the ranking had been determined by a counting of votes in the municipal, legislative and presidential election. For 2016, the JCE determined only the votes for the presidential election would count. In the 2016 election, the PRD allied with the winning PLD for the presidential candidate.
This means that the new PLD ally, the PRD, would be ranked third, behind the ruling PLD party, the PRM (the party created after a division in the PRD) and the PRD. The PRSC, that in the 2016 election did not ally with the PLD as it had done in the previous three elections, would fall to fourth place. The ranking gives the parties the 1, 2, and 3 numbers in the ballot for the 2020 election.
The decision to not contest the TSE ruling was announced by presiding judge Julio Julio César Castaños Guzmán. Other members of the JCE are Roberto Saladín Selin, Carmen Imbert Brugal, Rosario Graciano de los Santos and Henry Mejía Oviedo. The judges explained that the recourses against the TSE ruling, including that to be submitted to the Constitutional Court will not suspend the implementation of the ruling according to the law.
Financial director of the JCE, Diómedes Ogando, explained that the ruling does not affect the distribution of funds to the political parties that obtained more than 5% of the valid votes in the 2016 general election that share 80% of the taxpayer money allotted to political parties. The beneficiariaries of the distribution formula are the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD), Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM), Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) and the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC).
He said there will be variations in the funds allotted to parties with less than the 5% of the vote that in some cases will receive significant differences in funding. In 2017, the political parties will receive RD$805,043,462. Of this RD$644,034,769 will be allotted to the PLD, PRM, PRD and PRSC.
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Listin Diario
Hoy
23 May 2017
