: SPECIAL REPORT Dominican elections 2016: three processes in one and more technology in their organisation Santo Domingo, May 2016 Barcelona • Bogota • Buenos Aires • Havana • Lima • Lisbon • Madrid • Mexico City • Miami • New York City • Panama City • Quito • Rio de Janeiro • Sao Paulo Santiago • Santo Domingo • Washington, DC DOMINICAN ELECTIONS 2016: THREE PROCESSES IN ONE AND MORE TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR ORGANISATION 1. INTRODUCTION On May 15th slightly more than 6.7 million Dominicans will have 1. INTRODUCTION the chance to go to the just over 16,000 electoral colleges (voting 2. THE CONTENDERS tables) to elect their presidential, legislative and municipal 3. THE PROCESS authorities. After two decades of separate elections, further to 4. THE KEYS the approval of the “Carta Magna” (Constitution) of 2016, the AUTORES presidential, legislative and municipal elections have once again been reunited and so on the third Sunday in May, 4,106 positions will be elected (members of the Central American Parliament, inter alia). This whirl of figures makes this year’s elections a challenging event whose organisation lies with the Central Electoral Council (JCE), presided over by Roberto Rosario since 2010, and in which almost 80,000 people will be working, without including the delegates and their alternates which the parties will distribute amongst the slightly more than 4,000 polling stations. To put this into effect, the body has said that it will invest around 3,500 million pesos - around 76.2 million dollars. Votes will be cast in the 32 provinces and overseas. In other words, the Dominicans from the diaspora may also cast their vote although only for the Presidency and its representatives in the Parliament. 50 % of voters are concentrated in five provinces. Greater Santo Domingo, - which includes the province of the same name and the National District - the capital – goes to make up 31.5 % of them. These are followed by Santiago with 10.3 %, San Cristóbal with 5.5 % and La Vega with 4.21 %. However, special attention must be paid to “province 33”, comprising the 384,523 Dominicans eligible to vote outside the country, representing 5.6 % of the total which, in addition to its own members of parliament, will also mark the presidential ticket. 2 DOMINICAN ELECTIONS 2016: THREE PROCESSES IN ONE AND MORE TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR ORGANISATION 2. THE CONTENDERS Of particular note is the fact there is no direct presence Although there will only be eight of two historic parties: presidential candidates, the Partido Reformista Social number of parties taking part will Cristiano (PRSC) and Partido be 26. There are two clearly formed Revolucionario Dominicano blocks, the dominant one being (PRD). The former was involved in that headed up by the Partido de various races allied with the PLD la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) and on this occasion it decided to with which a further 15 parties go along with the PRM. The PRD, have become allies to form the in turn, after the split that took Bloque Progresista. The Partido place when the PRM emerged, Revolucionario Moderno (PRM) reached a re-election agreement which is competing for the first with the PLD and it is its ally in time as it was formed recently these elections. Without a shadow has achieved the support of a of a doubt, they are the two major further three parties. The others surprises which have led analysts are the Alianza País (ALPAIS), to say that the political parties Frente Nacional Progresista are not guided by their ideology (FNP), Alianza por la Democracia but rather by the share of power (APD), Partido Revolucionario they can negotiate by seeking Social Demócrata (PRSD), Partido integration into other groupings. de Unidad Nacional (PUN) and Partido Quisqueyano Demócrata The PLD starts off as the Cristiano (PQDC). favourite to make its mark in the elections in all three voting areas. Figure 1. Results of polls regarding election on 15M in the Dominican Republic The PRM, which came about with the idea of being the major Greenberg-Diario Mark Penn - SIN Gallup - HOY opposition party and the chance libre April 11th April 12th April 25th to make a change after 12 years of Danilo Medina 59 % 62 % 63 % PLD governments does not seem (PLD) to have achieved its objective. Luis Abinader 32 % 29 % 29 % (PRD) In presidential terms, Danilo Medina, the present President Guillermo Moreno 3 % 3 % 3.2 % (ALPAIS) and the man who is hoping to Minou TavÁrez 1 % 1 % <1 % gain re-election, modifying the (APD) Constitution to this end in 2015, Pelegrín Castillo <1 % <1 % <1 % (FNP) has led the latest polls presented by the media in conjunction with Soraya Aquino <1 % <1 % <1 % (PUN) firms like Gallup, Greenberg or Elías Wessin <1 % <1 % <1 % (PQDC) Penn & Schoen. Its figures stand at around the 60 % mark, ahead of Hatuey de Camps <1 % <1 % <1 % (PRSD) the 30 % at which Luis Abinader, The main polls are predicting a victory by Danilo Medina in the first round. Medina has the PRM candidate, has stalled. maintained an upward trend in intentions to vote which has consolidated at around 60 % Guillermo Moreno is the best of during the last month. By contrast, support for Luis Abinader has been falling since the first polls in January which attributed around 36 % of votes to him until today when he would the rest, though with a mere 3 % only attain 30 %. In turn, support for the minority parties seems to have been reduced to less of voting intentions. than 5 % of preferences: there are four candidates who would not attain 1% whilst Minou Tavarez would attain 1 % and Guillermo Moreno 3 %. 3 DOMINICAN ELECTIONS 2016: THREE PROCESSES IN ONE AND MORE TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR ORGANISATION 3. THE PROCESS elector will be read. This process will occur as from the The Junta Central Electoral opening of the colleges at 6 (JCE - Central Electoral Board) a.m. until they close at 6 p.m. is the body responsible for organising the elections. In the Then the scanners will come event of litigation or appeals, into play for the automated it is the Tribunal Superior counting of the votes. This was Electoral (Higher Election going to be the only counting Court) which is responsible method, but complaints for dealing with and ruling from opposition parties and on them, a new body which requests to the JCE to also emerged after its inclusion in include manual counting, the Constitution of 2010. have led the electoral body to include double counting It can be said to have been for the presidential ticket. As three maxims of the JCE when regards the legislative and putting together the process: municipal election, according “Maxims of the more efficiency, more security to the presentation made by JCE when putting and more transparency. It has technicians from the Board to not been without criticism and the directors of the country’s together the process: at the final stage the issues newspapers, they will be more efficiency, more have focused on its decisions separated into piles per party security and more regarding the observation of voted for, involving a kind of the process on May 15th and on counting. transparency” the reliability of the processes and teams involved in elector As far as how the scanners verification, vote counting and work, the paper tickets in the the transmission of results to urns will be issued, numbered the counting centre. and signed by the chairman of the table. They will then The big innovation in these be placed in groups in the elections has derived precisely appliances which are going from technology. When electors to scan them on both sides in arrive at the voting centres a very speedy process. At the and approach the tables to end of the scanning, the screen vote, they will be required to will display results on valid provide their ID card to place tickets and defective tickets. it in a device which will read The numbers of the latter will a code on the former. The be displayed on the screen reader screen will display the and the officials at tables and biometric data of the ID card party delegates must find the holder and will determine originals and compare the whether they are fit to vote image on the screen with the or not. As an extra security oriented ticket in order to take measure and to avoid identity the decision as to whether the theft, the fingerprint of the vote is valid or not and if it is, 4 DOMINICAN ELECTIONS 2016: THREE PROCESSES IN ONE AND MORE TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR ORGANISATION to determine which party to It seems that they will be the assign it to in which case it will cause for discussion until be marked in the appliance to the whole electoral process is add up the vote for the option over. Furthermore, another chosen. Once this stalemate habitual practise is the cause has been resolved and the of controversy: the purchase of scanning closed, a results’ ID cards so that electors do not report will be printed which vote. And this is indeed more must be signed by officials feasible on the understanding and delegates before being that there is no technology to scanned and transmitted to the avoid it. The inclusion in the JCE counting centre for the process of the manual vote in “For decades consolidation of results. the presidential context leaves room for interpretation of the the Dominican In view of these issues, ticket and even the buying off elections have been assuming respect for the law of party delegates. characterised by the and regulations, and on the premise that the delegates of The opposition is divided.