General elections were held in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

on 19 May 2024 to elect a president, vice-president, 32 senators, 190 deputies and 20

PARLACEN The Central American Parliament (), 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 The PARLACEN's origins date b ...

deputies. Incumbent President

Luis Abinader Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona (; born 12 July 1967) is a Dominicans, Dominican economist, businessman, and politician who has served as the 54th president of the Dominican Republic since 2020. He was the Modern Revolutionary Party candidate for ...

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 () 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 the republic during the Dominican War of In ...

is elected using the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

; if no candidate receives 50% + 1 vote, or more, of the total votes, a second-round runoff 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 el ...

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 wa ...

using

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

. 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 Bourb ...

are elected in three groups; 178 are elected by proportional representation from 32 multi-member constituencies based on the 31

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

and the

, 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, technica ...

, 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 (), 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 The PARLACEN's origins date b ...

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 le ...

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 ( or PRM) is a political party in the Dominican Republic. It emerged after a division within the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). It was recognized on September 9, 2014. The PRM is the legal heir of the Domin ...

was expected to win a supermajority in the

Congress of the Dominican Republic The Congress of the Dominican Republic () 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 deputies are chosen through direct election. T ...

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 an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

Elections in the Dominican Republic Presidential elections in the Dominican Republic