General elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 19 May 2024 to elect a president, vice-president, 32 senators, 190 deputies and 20 PARLACEN deputies.
Incumbent President Luis Abinader 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 is elected using the two-round system; 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 are elected from the 31 provinces and the Distrito Nacional using first-past-the-post voting.Senado (Senate) IPU
The 190 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected in three groups; 178 are elected by proportional representation from 32 multi-member constituencies based on the 31 provinces and the Distrito Nacional, 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, 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 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
PartyPresidential candidateVice presidential candidatePartido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM)Luis AbinaderRaquel PeñaPartido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD)Zoraima CuelloPartido Fuerza del Pueblo (FP) Leonel FernándezIngrid MendozaPartido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD)Miguel VargasJoel Díaz UreñaFrente Amplio (FA)María Teresa CabreraJesús Díaz MoránMovimiento Patria para Todos y Todas (MPT)Fulgencio SeverinoFrancisca PegueroPartido Generacion de Servidores (PGS)Carlos PeñaNikauly de la MotaOpción Democrática (OD)Virginia Antares RodríguezIco AbreuPartido Esperanza Democratica (PED)Roque EspaillatJosé Ernesto Fadul
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.
Opinion polls PollsterDate(s)Abinader(PRM)(PLD)Fernandez(FP) AtlasIntel6–9 May 2024 65.2%11.5%17.3%Acxiona5–8 May 2024 67.2%7.22%21.5%Gallup-RCC Media1–4 May 2024 60%11.1%24.6%Markestrategia15–17 April 2024 67.9%7.1%18.4%Gallup RCC Media6–9 March 2024 64%12%19%CID Gallup27–28 February 2024 59%13%27%RD Elige20–26 February 2024 52.3%13%29%Acxiona2–5 February 2024 54%9%24%ACD Media15–18 January 2024 55.1%10.4%26.3%Centro Económico del Cibao17–18 December 2023 58.2%9.9%22.9%RD Elige1–9 December 2023 52.9%16.9%28.7%Greenberg-Diario Libre15–18 November 2023 49%17%29%Markestrategia12–14 November 2023 57.6%10.7%24.6%Gallup RCC Media25–29 October 2023 55.2%13.5%27.4%Consulting Research Group21–23 September 2023 36.3%30.9%20.1%RD Elige12–16 September 2023 53.1%16.6%27.8%Markestrategia26–28 August 2023 54.6%12.5%24.8%Acxiona1–5 August 202353.0%11.0%22.0%Markestrategia19–21 July 2023 55.8%13.1%29.1%Gallup RCC Media11–14 June 2023 47.7%19.0%28.9%RD Elige17–20 May 2023 47.3%21.5%27.0%Sondeos22–30 April 2023 48%11.0%31.0%Gallup RCC Media1–5 April 2023 48.5%18.2%25.9%RD Elige14–18 March 2023 44.8%27.6%22.4%Grupo de Investigaciones Digitales30 January–3 February 2023 49.9%21.0%18.0%Markestrategia20–22 January 202347.7%14.8%27.0%Acxiona24–28 November 202244.0%17.0%23.0%
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 was expected to win a supermajority in the Congress of the Dominican Republic.
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.
References