General elections were held in

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 wit ...

on 15 May 2016 to elect a president, vice-president and the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, as well as 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament, municipal councils, mayors and vice mayors.Elections in the Dominican Republic : May 20 Presidential Election
IFES On 15 May 2015 Roberto Rosario, president of the Central Electoral Board, said that there would be about 4,300 seats up for election in the "most complex elections in history".

Background

The previous

parliamentary elections 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 ( ...

were held in 2010, and fresh elections would have usually been due in 2014 as

has a four-year term. However, in an effort to revert to the pre-1996 system and synchronize the dates of presidential and parliamentary and local elections in a single electoral year, the congressional term starting in 2010 was exceptionally extended to six years in order for the next congressional and municipal elections to be held alongside the next presidential elections due in 2016. On 19 April 2015 the political committee of the ruling

Dominican Liberation Party The Dominican Liberation Party ( Spanish: Partido de la Liberación Dominicana, referred to here by its Spanish acronym, the PLD) is a political party in the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1973 by former president Juan Bosch, the party, along ...

decided, without consensus, to amend the constitution to allow a president to be re-elected once, allowing incumbent President

Danilo Medina Danilo Medina Sánchez ( : born 10 November 1951) is a Dominican politician who was President of the Dominican Republic from 2012 to 2020. Medina previously served as Chief of Staff to the President of the Dominican Republic from 1996 to 1999 ...

to be presented for re-election, based on his high poll ratings. This led to tensions between party members and leaders, especially amongst supporters of

Leonel Fernandez Leonel is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Leonel Altobelli (born 1986), Argentine footballer * Leonel Álvarez (born 1965), former Colombian football defensive midfielder * Leonel Bastos or Lionel Bastos, singer, songwriter and ...

who was a pre-candidate for the elections. There was also an impasse in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, where senators and representatives close to Fernandez stated that they would not vote in favour of the Act to Call the Revising National Assembly to amend the constitution. After several weeks of internal disputes, the political committee, including Fernandez and Medina, agreed on 28 May to vote for the amendment. The amendment passed the Chamber on June 2.

Electoral system

The president was 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 resu ...

; if no candidate had received more than 50% plus 1 of the vote, 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 marke ...

would have been held in June 2016. Presidents are limited to serving two consecutive terms of four years. In the Congress, the 190 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected in three groups; 178 were elected using 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 ou ...

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 were elected by proportional representation in a separate constituency for expatriates and five allocated nationally to parties that received at least 1% of the vote, with preference given to those that did not win any of the 178 constituency seats.Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies)
IPU 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 el ...

were elected from the 31 provinces and the Distrito Nacional 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 ...

.Senado (Senate)
IPU

Coalitions

The coalition led by the

includes: *

Dominican Revolutionary Party The Dominican Revolutionary Party ( es, link=no, Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, PRD) is a political party in the Dominican Republic. Traditionally a left-of-centre party and social democratic in nature, the party has shifted since the 2000 ...

* Alternative Democratic Movement *

Social Democratic Institutional Bloc The Social Democratic Institutional Bloc (, or BIS) is a left-wing populist, democratic socialist, social democratic and left-wing nationalist political party in the Dominican Republic. History Established in 1989,Steven Levitsky, James Loxton, ...

Civic Renovation Party The Civic Renovation Party ( es, Partido Cívico Renovador, or PCR) is a political party in the Dominican Republic which was founded in 2006 as the Civic Renovation Movement by Jorge Radhamés Zorrilla Ozuna and a group of social-democratic Domin ...

* Liberal Reformist Party *

Green Socialist Party The Green Socialist Party () is a minor political party of 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 Carib ...

* Christian Democratic Union *

Dominican Workers' Party The Dominican Workers Party ( es, Partido de los Trabajadores Dominicanos, PTD) was a communist party in the Dominican Republic founded in 1979. The leader and secretary general of the party was José González Espinosa. In the 16 May 2006 electio ...

*Institutional Democratic Party * Christian People's Party *Liberal Party of Action *

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

*Citizen's Will National Party *

Independent Revolutionary Party The Independent Revolutionary Party (PRI) ( es, Partido Revolucionario Independiente) is a minor political party of the Dominican Republic, without parliamentary representation after the 16 May 2006 election. The PRI was created by Jacobo Majluta a ...

The coalition led by the

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 ...

includes: *

Social Christian Reformist Party The Social Christian Reformist Party ( es, Partido Reformista Social Cristiano, PRSC) is a Christian democratic right-wing political party in the Dominican Republic. It was established on July 24, 1984, by the union of Joaquín Balaguer's ' ...

Dominican Humanist Party The Dominican Humanist Party () is a minor humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and ph ...

* Broad Front *Dominicans for Change

Results

President

Congress

References

External links

Elections in the Dominican Republic: 2016 General Elections
IFES {{Dominican Republic elections Dominican R 2016 in the Dominican Republic Elections in the Dominican Republic Presidential elections in the Dominican Republic May 2016 events in North America