Calm Prevails in
Dominican Polls
Calm, and a substantial
electoral turnout,
prevailed in the
Dominican Republic on
Friday.
After 14:00 (local
time), there were lines
of people, pounded by
the heat of the sun,
still waiting to cast
their votes.
The process is easy, but
its organization is
irregular, so you can
see crowds gathered at
some polling stations
and others with no
queues at all.
The nearly 9,000 polling
stations opened at 06:00
(local time) to elect
the next president of
the Republic.
PLD (the Dominican
Liberation Party), in a
coalition with another
11 groups, is trying to
have President Leonel
Fernandez re-elected,
while PRD (the Dominican
Revolutionary Party), in
an alliance with another
three groups, proposes
the former minister of
Construction Miguel
Vargas.
There were armed
incidents in Los Mina
and Cristo Rey
districts, in the
capital, and in Bonao,
in the Monsenor Nouel
province (center),
according to press
reports.
Meanwhile, at least
23,000 Dominicans are
expected to cast their
vote in nine Spanish
cities, including
Madrid, Barcelona,
Valencia, La Coruna,
Pamplona, Bilbao,
Burgos, Valladolid and
Ponferrada.
The Dominican community
in Spain is estimated at
over 50,000 people, and
the number of Dominican
electors abroad reach
154,000, according to
figures released in
Madrid. |
