While initially the Minister of Hacienda and Minister of Economy said no way to the allotment of RD$1.25 billion to the JCE to cover the primaries of five political parties, now Administrative Minister of the Presidency José Ramón Peralta is more open and says there might be a way. The point is that after a meeting with the five political parties, the president of the JCE has gone ahead to formally make the request to the central government. A good part of the funding would be used to test the automated voting system the JCE wants to implement for the 2020 general election.
The JCE is open to picking up the tab for RD$1.25 billion of RD$1.45 billion to help the political parties organize their primaries to choose their candidates for the 2020 general election. In the past, the cost of the primaries had been covered by the political parties themselves.
13 February 2019
