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Background

OAS hails substantial improvement in Dominican Republic electoral process and institutions

The full Preliminary Report is available here.

The Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the Organization of American States (OAS) for the Ordinary General Elections for the Presidency, Senate and Chamber of Deputies of May 19, 2024, led by the former president of Chile, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, congratulates the Dominican people on their strong democratic spirit demonstrated in their participation in the polls. Likewise, it recognizes the dedication of all the members of polling stations and delegates of political organizations, who enabled the voting to proceed peacefully and in a civic-minded way.

The OAS/EOM applauds the Central Electoral Board (JCE) for their successful organization of the election and commends the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for their contribution to the smooth running of the process. The Mission especially recognizes the strong commitment of the JCE to implementing the recommendations formulated by the OAS in the wake of the municipal elections in February this year. The JCE even systematized those recommendations and provided the Mission with a detailed response on the improvements made in different areas. This is a good practice that the OAS respectfully encourages other countries to emulate.

The Mission found the electoral authority to be agile and responsive, and notes that it went to great lengths to attend to the requests of political parties and ensure the transparency of the process. The elections demonstrated that when institutions address the concerns of citizens and political organizations, with the support of the country’s various institutions, civil society and international cooperation and observation, substantive progress in electoral processes can be made within a short span of time,

Although challenges remain for future elections, including structural issues such as vote buying, the Mission noted significant improvements in how the elections of May 19 were conducted. The country’s electoral institutional framework has been strengthened and, with it, Dominican democracy.

The OAS/EOM was made up of 84 observers and specialists of 19 nationalities and was present in 23 provinces in the country, the National District, and three cities abroad: New York and Washington, D.C., in the United States; and San José, Costa Rica. For its analysis of substantive aspects of the Dominican electoral system, the OAS/EOM included experts in electoral organization, overseas voting, electoral technology, electoral justice, campaign finance, women’s political participation, electoral security and violence, and lastly, campaigns, media and digital communication.

The Mission congratulates President Luis Abinader and the other elected officials on their victory and applauds the commitment to democracy shown by the various candidates in promptly recognizing the results.

PRE-ELECTORAL STAGE

The full Preliminary Report is available here.

Reference: S-008/24