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Preliminary Report on Election Day in the Dominican Republic

At the close yesterday of Election Day, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, greeted the Dominican people and recognized the efforts of the Central Electoral Board in conducting this process. Insulza said that “the Board has successfully consolidated its role as administrator of the elections and today enjoys the trust of citizens, helping to strengthen the country’s democratic institutions.” Also, the Secretary General lamented the deaths of Dominican citizens in isolated incidents during Election Day.

The OAS, in response to an invitation from the Central Electoral Board of the Dominican Republic, deployed an Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of 53 technicians and observers that traveled around most of the national territory for the purpose of observing the Congressional and Municipal elections of May 16. The standardized methodology implemented by the EOM/OAS allows for rigorous observation of various aspects of the electoral process: organization and logistics, applied technologies, political campaigns and especially the elections.

During their work in the country, the EOM/OAS met with electoral and government authorities, leaders of diverse political forces, civil society organizations and diplomatic representatives. It is important to highlight that the various stakeholders in this process expressed their trust in the work conducted by the Central Electoral Board.

The Mission noted that, once again, the Dominican people exercised their vote in an environment of relative tranquility. Because of this, the EOM congratulates the members of the Electoral Colleges for their significant efforts fulfilling their functions and the party delegates who showed their commitment to supervise this process.

Nevertheless, the Mission laments the isolated incidents of violence during the electoral process. The EOM/OAS also observed electoral violations such as the buying of identity cards in the Municipality of Mao, Provincia Valverde, and significant proselytizing activity in voting centers and their surroundings.

The Electoral Observation Mission of the OAS wishes to reiterate the recommendations to the local electoral body made in previous missions, as well as identify new challenges arisen from institutions defined by the constitutional reform that represent, without a doubt, a unique opportunity for the integral improvement of the electoral system:

1. Simplification and improvement of the voting mechanism. The EOM/OAS understands that preferential voting significantly improves the right of citizens to elect. Nevertheless, it deems necessary to review the ballot design that has posed difficulties to voters, a fact demonstrated by the difficulties evident during counting.

2. Ensure conditions of equity in the electoral contest. Because there are no limits on private campaign financing or efficient mechanisms of control and sanction, asymmetry was evident in the presence and coverage of the different candidacies. The use of state media for proselytizing activities also was noted while being expressly prohibited by law. Similarly, there was a lack of programmatic content throughout the last phase of the campaign. In the framework of the new state of institutions, authorities in the exercise of their duties should establish appropriate control parameters to create better conditions for the elections.

3. Recording, investigation and sanctioning of electoral violations. Because of the complaints received by the Electoral Observation Mission, the EOM/OAS calls on the competent authorities to fully exercise their faculties to punish those responsible for illegal acts as established by law.

In the next few weeks a report will be presented to the OAS Permanent Council with the goal of presenting the results of this work of observation and broadening the recommendations on the electoral process, providing follow-up to the tasks conducted on the field.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org

Reference: E-183/10