Report of the Electoral Observation Mission to the Dominican Republic

Good morning, Madam Chair of the Permanent Council, Ambassador Elisa Ruiz Díaz Bareiro, Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the Organization of American States (OAS); honorable Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro; honorable Assistant Secretary General, Nestor Mendez; the Honorable Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, former President of the Republic of Chile; dear fellow ambassadors.

The Delegation of the Dominican Republic wishes to thank the Honorable Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, former President of the Republic of Chile, for the final presentation to the Permanent Council of the Observation Mission of the Organization of American States on the municipal elections of February 16, 2020, those of March 15, 2020, and the presidential, senatorial and congressional elections of July 5, 2020, in the Dominican Republic. We offer special recognition to the OAS Electoral Observation Mission (EOM), bearing in mind the COVID-19 pandemic and the health emergency then in force, whose members had to make great efforts to observe our elections.

On September 17, 2019, the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States received an official invitation from our country's Central Electoral Board to deploy electoral observation missions for last year's municipal elections and presidential, senatorial and congressional elections. Secretary General Luis Almagro accepted the invitation and instructed the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) of the Secretariat for Strengthening Democracy (SSD) to begin the corresponding preparations and to seek external resources to finance the Mission; he also appointed the former President of the Republic of Chile as Chief of the Missions.

The main matters included in the report presented to us today are the following:

• The suspended municipal elections of February 16 and the extraordinary elections of March 15, in the post-electoral stage;
• The presidential, senatorial and congressional elections, in their pre-electoral stage, election day and post-electoral stage; and,
• The findings and recommendations by subject, namely: the electoral legal framework; electoral organization; the technology used; the political participation of women; political financing; and electoral justice.

On the mayoral elections of March 15, which, it bears repeating, were held in a complex health context as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report notes that the OAS observers visited ninety-nine voting centers and a total of four hundred thirty-five polling stations in twenty provinces of the country and the National District. In keeping with OAS methodology, observation covered everything from the setting up of the polling stations to the counting and transmission of the results, as well as the return of the materials.

The report notes that, at the mayoral level, citizens expressed a preference for the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) and its allies, which won eighty-one mayoralties, or 51% of the total, including that of the National District, against sixty-five mayoralties, or 41%, for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and its allies. The remaining mayoralties went to minority parties and their allies. Subsequently, on Sunday, July 5, 2020, the elections at the presidential, senatorial and congressional levels were held. For these, the electoral roll comprised seven million five hundred twenty-nine thousand nine hundred thirty-two voters, distributed among sixteen thousand and one polling stations set up throughout the country and one thousand ninety-nine in cities abroad.

The roll was made up of 51.1% women and 48.9% men; of the total, 92% of voters were eligible to vote in the Dominican Republic and 8% abroad. Of that number, and as recorded in the last bulletin issued by the Central Electoral Board on the presidential election, four million one hundred sixty-three thousand three hundred five Dominican men and women cast their votes, for a turnout of 55.29%. Of these, four million one hundred three thousand three hundred sixty-two voters marked their ballots validly, or 98.56%.

In this contest the Dominican people elected, with 52.52% of the votes, the candidates of the Modern Revolutionary Party and its allies, Mr. Luis Abinader as President of the Republic and Mrs. Raquel Peña as Vice President. The Dominican Liberation Party and its allies obtained 37.46% of the votes, followed by the candidates of the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) and its allies with 8.9%, and the Alianza País party (PAIS) with 0.96%.

In the elections for senators, the results were as follows:

• The Modern Revolutionary Party won eighteen senators;
• The Dominican Liberation Party, six senators;
• The Social Christian Reformist Party, five senators;
• The Dominicans for Change Party, one senator; and,
• Fuerza del Pueblo, one senator.

In the elections for deputies for the provinces and for the territorial, national and overseas constituencies, the results were:

• The Modern Revolutionary Party, ninety deputies;
• The Dominican Liberation Party, seventy-five deputies;
• Fuerza del Pueblo, four deputies;
• The Social Christian Reformist Party, six deputies; and,
• The Dominican Revolutionary Party, three deputies, followed by other minority parties.

Madam Chair, when we analyze by gender the percentages of candidacies for elective office in the presidential, senatorial and congressional elections of July 5, 2020, while it is true that at the vice-presidential level women's candidacies reached 50%, and at the level of deputies close to 44%, we note that at the level of the Senate the figure was only 12.5%, a challenge that the political parties and Dominican society have yet to overcome. As a point worth noting, in the past twenty years our country has had three women serve as Vice President of the Republic.

I would now like to emphasize that the Central Electoral Board, as well as the authorities and democratic sectors in our country, will weigh with the attention they deserve, together with the political organizations, the specific recommendations made by the Electoral Observation Mission on the electoral legal framework, electoral organization, the use of technology, the political participation of women, the financing of political parties and electoral justice, with a view to strengthening electoral processes in the future. We likewise consider of great importance the recommendation to continue strengthening electoral institutions, which requires standardizing, evaluating and accounting for results; coordinating among institutions and among units; establishing permanent channels of dialogue and cooperation; ensuring full compliance with the rules; documenting and sharing knowledge; and generating stability and predictability. In this regard, the Dominican Government, respectful of the independence of the branches of government and of democratic institutions, has recently conducted transparent and open processes, in consultation with the different political forces and social actors, for the election of the new members of the Central Electoral Board, which has also received the resources necessary for the regular performance of its functions and for its institutional strengthening.

The Delegation of the Dominican Republic wishes to reiterate its gratitude to the Secretary General, Mr. Luis Almagro, for his inestimable support for the electoral processes in our country last year, and to the Honorable Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, former President of Chile, for having led the Electoral Mission together with its members.

Finally, on behalf of the Government and people of the Dominican Republic, I wish to thank the Organization of American States for all its support in sending the Electoral Observation Mission, recognizing as well the work of the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation. Our thanks also go to Germany, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Korea, Spain, the United States, France, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands and Panama for their financial contributions, which made possible the deployment of the Electoral Observation Mission in the Dominican Republic.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.