2024News

Update on the organization of the 2024 presidential and legislative elections

With the presidential and congressional elections of the Dominican Republic happening on Sunday, 19 May 2024, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) announced it has completed the printing of something like 24,000,000 ballots that will be used to elect 264 persons for the positions of president, vice president, and members of the National Congress. The elections are organized under rulings contained in Political Parties Law 33-18, Electoral Law 15-19, and the amendments and Constitutional
Court rulings on clauses in these laws.

The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has finished printing something like 24,000,000 ballots that will be used on Sunday, 19 May 2024, to elect 264 persons for the positions of President, Vice President, and members of the National Congress.

For the 19 May 2024 election, there are 7,281,763 registered voters eligible to vote in the Dominican Republic and 863,785 abroad. Of these 4,176,365 are women (51%) and 3,969,183 men (49%).

Eligible to vote in the Dominican Republic are 3,713,461 women (51%) and 3,568,302 men (49%). Of the voters eligible to vote abroad, 462,904 are women (54%) and 400,881 are men (46%).

The registered voters in the Dominican Republic are located:
Santo Domingo province: 1,649,032
Santiago: 785,287
National District: 794,080
San Cristobal: 441,258
La Vega: 318,532
Puerto Plata: 258,042
Duarte (San Francisco de Macoris): 234,553
San Pedro de Macorís: 229, 372
San Juan de la Maguana: 192,039
Espaillat (Moca): 191,403
La Romana: 189,231
La Altagracia: 186,886
Azua: 172,801
Monseñor Nouel (Bonao): 144,045
Monte Plata: 142,460
Peravia (Baní): 140,956
Barahona: 135,743
Sánchez Ramírez (Cotuí): 126,090
Valverde: 116,738
Maria Trinidad Sanchez: 113,091
Hermanas Mirabal: 84,835
Montecristi: 82,552
Samaná: 81,061
Bahoruco: 76,436
Hato Mayor: 73,367
El Seibo: 63,596
Dajabón: 52,824
San José de Ocoa: 52,519
Santiago Rodríguez: 49,639
Elías Piña: 45,337
Independencia: 38,238
Pedernales: 19,720.

Voters abroad are located in 66 countries abroad:
United States: 613,340
Puerto Rico: 43,748
US Virgin Islands: 2,162
Canada: 4,788;

Latin America:
Panamá: 11,464
Chile: 6,232
Venezuela: 5,168
Argentina: 2,639
Mexico: 1,102
Uruguay: 721
Costa Rica: 629
Ecuador: 315
Peru: 237
Colombia: 169
Guatemala: 169
Brazil: 161

Caribbean:
St. Martin: 5,075
Curacao: 3,543
Aruba: 2,735
French Guyana: 2,383
Antigua & Barbuda: 2,129
Guadaloupe: 1,367
Turks & Caicos: 1,309
British Virgin Islands: 814
Martinique: 368
Anguila: 332
St. Kitts & Nevis: 110

Europe:
Spain: 107,861
Italy: 20,421
Switzerland: 8,689
Germany: 3,580
Netherlands: 3,271
France: 1,697
Belgium: 1,183
United Kingdom: 1,163
Austria: 796
Luxembourg: 418
Greece: 219

The expat vote is divided into three political districts and falls under the Electoral Logistics Coordination (OCLEE) of the JCE. The three voting districts abroad are:
Voting District No. 1: Montreal and Toronto in Canada; the US states of New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C. and Connecticut.
Voting District 2: Netherlands Antilles, Florida, Panama, Puerto Rico, Caracas, Venezuela and other Caribbean islands.
Voting District 3: European countries

The JCE says there are 4,286 voting stations for the 2024 presidential and congressional elections and 16,851 voting rooms.

How the candidates are chosen

The President in the Dominican Republic is elected with the 50%+1 of the vote. If the minimum is not achieved, then a second run is held on the last Sunday of June.

During the 2024 election, 32 senators will be elected for the 31 provinces and the National District. Twenty-three senators are seeking reelection. Senators are elected by simple majority. The senator is chosen by the person who receives the most votes.

The election of the Chamber of Deputies is complicated. 190 deputies will be elected, including 178 that will attend the regular sessions, five by accumulation of votes and seven to represent the Dominican community abroad. Deputies are elected by the D’Hondt Method that distributes the votes in proportion to the votes obtained by the parties. An average determines the seats of each party according to lists submitted by the parties. In a first phase, the JCE determines the seats to be awarded to each party, and in a second phase, it allots the candidates seats in Congress by way of preferential votes. Preferential votes are those marked for a particular person by the voters.

The national deputies will be chosen depending on the number of votes each party gets. Of the around 42 political parties participating in the election, those that obtain 1% or more of the national vote will have the right to participate in the distribution of seats in that order.

The seven overseas deputies will also be elected on Sunday. In addition, in this year’s election the registration of deputies of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) will be renewed, where 20 positions and an equal number of substitutes will be elected, adding up to 40 in total.

Parlacen members
The Dominican Republic is one of the countries that, together with Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, make up the Central American Parliament, a body in which each member nation or state is entitled to 20 seats. The selection of these is also carried out using the D’Hondt formula, similar to the distribution of national deputations.

The JCE has also issued Resolution 27/2024 that authorizes the political parties that have presidential candidates to appoint their delegates to each voting center. The Electoral Board also established just how the chain of custody of the ballot boxes and the votes themselves will be carried out.

The JCE also reported that the deadline for all polling news was Saturday 11 May 2024. No further polls may be published during the week before the elections.

Voting day
The JCE highlights that all political parties are allowed to observe the process, as long as their observers have received the appropriate credentials from the electoral body.

Voting will begin on 19 May 2024 at 7am and ends at 5pm for most of the offshore voting stations, including the East Coast of the United States and Canada. In Los Angeles and Las Vegas voting will end at 4pm Pacific Daylight Time.

Over in Europe, the voting will begin at 8am and end at 6pm local times. The 8am to 6pm schedule also applies to the countries of the Southern Cone, Central America and Mexico.

Vote count
The JCE has until 21 May to complete the counting of the votes. The 18 February 2024 municipal election proved the vote counting system is effective and a vote count is expected to be had much before the deadline.

22 May is the deadline to submit appeals for annulment of elections, total or partial, before the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

The 24th is the date established for that court to hear the challenges, and the rulings must be pronounced on the 25th.

Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
El Nuevo Diario
Listin Diario
JCE
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Listin Diario

14 May 2024