Polling stations opened their doors in the Dominican Republic this Sunday, the day more than 8.1 million citizens called to vote for legislative and presidential elections.

Voting centers will be open from 07:00 to 17:00 local time during the elections, in which nine candidates are vying for the post of president of the country for the period 2024-2028, including the current head of state, Luis Abinader, who is seeking re-election.

On this day members of the bicameral Congress (32 senators and 190 deputies), as well as 20 representatives of the Dominican Republic in the Central American Parliament (Parlacen).

Opening the process, the President of the Central Electoral Commission (JCE), Roman Jaques, invited the Dominicans “to exercise the sacred right of choice.”

In his speech, the magistrate emphasized the presence in the country 2349 election observers, among them the mission of the Organization of American States (COE), the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (Copppal) or the civil movement “Civic Participation”, the local representative of Transparency International.

These will be most watched local elections in historywhich represents “a sign of an open process consistent with transparency and fairness,” he added.

In addition, Jaques highlighted the innovations implemented in these elections, including penal voting at the presidential level.

Contingent 55,000 military personnel and National Police, assigned to the Military Electoral Police (PME), they operate under JCE instructions to ensure the safety of polling stations, voters and workers on election day.

One feature is that it The sale of alcohol is prohibited before, during and after Election Day. The restriction imposed by the JCE under the Organic Law on the Electoral Regime was clarified in a statement by the President of the Dominican Republic.

The rule provides that “24 hours before an election, no alcoholic beverages may be sold or distributed for any purpose, until twelve hours after the end of voting,” that is, until noon on Monday, May 20, a measure that “seeks to guarantee order and calm during the process.”

The main candidates for the presidency are Luis Abinader, which is seeking re-election along with the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM, progressive and liberal); former head of state Leonel Fernandez, leader of the Fuerza del Pueblo (FP, progressive) party, which is seeking to govern the country for the fourth time, and Abel Martinezwho served as mayor of Santiago, the second city of the Dominican Republic, and headed the Chamber of Deputies from the Dominican Republic Liberation Party (PLD, progressive).

(according to information from EFE)