The secretary general of the ruling PLD, Reinaldo Pared Pérez announced at the end of the Monday, 13 May 2019 meeting of the PLD Political Committee that the party would submit a motion for the revoking of the elimination of the drag vote in 26 provinces for the 2020 general election. The Central Electoral Board (JCE) on 7 May 2019 approved that the drag vote would still apply in the National District, and in the provinces of Santo Domingo, Santiago, San Cristóbal, La Vega, and Puerto Plata. Electoral districts in those areas account for almost 59% of the national vote.
Pared Perez said the JCE in its decision went beyond its mandate. He advocated for maintaining the drag vote that allocates the votes received by deputies to the senator of the National District or the province.
The leading opposition party, the PRM, has also said it will submit a recourse to the Constitutional Court requesting the drag vote be eliminated in all voting districts.
Furthermore, Pared Perez said it will not adhere to the recent Constitutional Court ruling that called for political parties to adhere to their statutes. Pared Perez said that the party will carry out its primary with an open voting list because the Constitutional Court ruling is not retroactive. The Constitutional Court annulled the clause in Political Parties Law 33-18 that grants the leadership of political parties the power to decide the voting list to be used, the modality and the method to choose the pre-candidates for an election.
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Listin Diario
14 May 2019