2008 – Page 216

A total of 497,096 Santo Domingo city (the National District) residents voted in strong majority for the candidacy of President Leonel Fernandez. In the National District the Fernandez re-election bid received the support of 60.34% of voters, compared to 35.30% by Miguel Vargas of the PRD, 2.39% by Amable Aristy of the PRSC. Support for …

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As the Central Electoral Board issued its final 9th bulletin, it became apparent that the 2008 Presidential Election motivated less Dominicans to vote than the 2004 election. This year a full 29% of registered voters did not exercise their right to vote, and this is up 2% from the 2004 elections and with a larger …

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At least three parties have lost their status as official parties on the Dominican political scene as a result of their performances in the recent elections. Since these parties did not reach 2% of the popular vote, they will have to re-apply for recognition by the Central Electoral Board (JCE), according to Law 275-97. The …

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Last minute candidate Guillermo Moreno of MIUCA, running for President for the first time, is encouraged by his numbers into the 2008 presidential election. The candidate ended with a 0.44% of the vote, receiving 18,136 votes, compared to the 0.47% received by former PRSC candidate Eduardo Estrella running on the PRSD ticket, grouping PRD and …

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Organization of American States representative Jose Bordon has congratulated the Dominican people for their civic spirit as demonstrated in Friday’s elections. The OAS specialist also called on the government to overcome its weak areas such as the use of government resources and the way publicity was handled during the campaign. Praising the participants, Bordon told …

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Emergency departments in the principal health centers in Santo Domingo saw a typical holiday increase in accident victims over the long weekend caused by Friday’s election. Patients treated included accident victims, stomach disorders and victims of violence by stabbings, blunt instruments and gunshots. Doctors at the Dario Contreras Hospital said that most of the patients …

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The exit polls carried out by Participacion Ciudadana (Citizen Participation) were very close to being duplicates of the official bulletins released by the Central Electoral Board (JCE). PC said that the PLD had carried the election with 54%, while the actual count was 53.83%. Close enough. The exit polls also found that the PRD and …

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After spending millions of dollars to register 154,797 overseas voters, set up polling stations in 11 countries. Dominican overseas voters did not even respond with a 50% turnout. Only 75,958 people voted on Friday, slightly less than half of the registered voters. The United States has the most voters, with 52,522 people voting, a good …

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The small political parties allied with the PLD accounted for nearly 9% of the popular vote in favor of Leonel Fernandez. The PLD, by itself, garnered 44.94% of the votes, and with the 8.90% received by their allies, a first round win was assured. The Alliance for Democracy (APD) came up with 1.96% of the …

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An analysis of the success or failure of clientilistic practices in the 2008 political campaigns shows that while clientilism may have added many votes at a very high cost, it also could have led to the parties losing more votes on other fronts. President Leonel Fernandez’s re-election bid, based in great part on a very …

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