General elections were held in the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
on 19 May 2024 to elect a president, vice-president, 32 senators, 190 deputies and 20
PARLACEN deputies.
Incumbent President
Luis Abinader
Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona (; born 12 July 1967) is a Dominican economist, businessman, and politician who is serving as the 54th president of the Dominican Republic since 2020. He served as the Modern Revolutionary Party candidate for Pres ...
won re-election to a second term with a majority of the vote in the first round, eliminating the need for a runoff.
Electoral system
The
President of the Dominican Republic
The president of the Dominican Republic ( es, Presidente de la República Dominicana) is both the head of state and head of government of the Dominican Republic. The presidential system was established in 1844, following the proclamation of th ...
is elected using the
two-round system
The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian res ...
; if no candidate receives 50% + 1 vote, or more, of the total votes, a second-round
runoff
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
is held between the two candidates with the highest votes in the first round.
The 32 members of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...
are elected from the 31 provinces and the
Distrito Nacional
The Distrito Nacional (; D.N.) is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not in any of the provinces, but in practice, it acts as a province on its own. Before October 16, 2001, the Distrito Nacional was ...
using
first-past-the-post voting
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
.
The 190 members of the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...
are elected in three groups; 178 are elected by proportional representation from 32 multi-member constituencies based on the 31
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
and the
Distrito Nacional
The Distrito Nacional (; D.N.) is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not in any of the provinces, but in practice, it acts as a province on its own. Before October 16, 2001, the Distrito Nacional was ...
, with the number of seats based on the population of each province. A further seven members are elected by proportional representation by Dominican expatriates in three
overseas constituencies An overseas constituency or overseas electoral district is any electoral district located outside of a nation-state's borders but which is recognized by the state's government as a district for the representation of its expatriate (and, technically ...
, and five seats are allocated at the national level to parties that received at least 1% of the vote nationally, giving preference to those that did not win any of the 178 constituency seats.
[Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies)]
IPU
The 20 seats in the
Central American Parliament
The Central American Parliament ( es, Parlamento Centroamericano), also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City.
History
...
are elected by proportional representation.
Conduct
Around eight million people were eligible to vote in this election. Voting began at 07:00 on 19 May and closed at 17:00. The process was described as smooth, apart from small irregularities reported by opposition parties.
Candidates
Campaign
Among notable issues during the campaign was the effects of the
political unrest in Haiti and increased migration from the latter country. During a debate, President Abinader pledged to continue the deportation of illegal immigrants and finish construction of a wall along the
border with Haiti. Both Leonel Fernandez and Abel Martínez also supported a harsh stance on
migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum l ...
.
Opinion polls
Results
Preliminary results showed that Abinader had won outright re-election in the first round with around 60% of the vote, while his
Modern Revolutionary Party
The Modern Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Moderno or PRM) is a political party in the Dominican Republic. It emerged after a new division within the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). It was recognized on 9 September 2014. Th ...
was expected to win a supermajority in the
Congress of the Dominican Republic
The Congress of the Dominican Republic ( es, Congreso de la República Dominicana) is the bicameral legislature of the government of the Dominican Republic, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Both senators and deput ...
.
President
Senate
The Modern Revolutionary Party won a supermajority in the Senate, seeing their seat total increase from 17 to 24.
Chamber of Deputies
The Modern Revolutionary Party won a supermajority in the Chamber of Deputies, the first time a political party achieved this in modern Dominican history.
Central American Parliament
Aftermath
Both Leonel Fernandez and Abel Martínez conceded to Abinader shortly after the release of the result. In his victory speech, Abinader said that the "changes that we’ve made are going to be irreversible”, adding that the "best is yet to come".
Re-elected President Abinader, after obtaining a supermajority in both houses, announced a constitutional reform.
[https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2024/05/25/abinader-reiterates-that-he-will-seek-to-reform-the-constitution-to-protect-it/]
References
{{Dominican Republic elections
Dominican
General election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
General election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
Elections in the Dominican Republic
Presidential elections in the Dominican Republic