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DE RUEHDG #1522/01 1291828
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P 091828Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
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RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
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UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001522 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, INR/IAA, EB, EB/IFD/OMA, 
; USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD; TREASURY FOR OASIA-J LEVINE; 
DEPT PASS USTR; USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN 
DIVISION; 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: DR PGOV
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY -- DOMINICAN ELECTIONS #10: CENTRAL 
ELECTION BOARD IS ON COURSE, DESPITE FLAK 
 
¶1.  (U) This is the 8th cable in a series reporting on the 
Dominican Rrepublic's May 16 congressional and municipal 
elections: 
 
Central Election Board Is on Course, Despite Flak 
 
The Central Election Board (JCE), responsible for organizing 
and adjudicating the May 16 Dominican congressional and 
municipal elections, is overcoming minor delays and, barring 
any unforeseen major obstacles, will hold the elections as 
scheduled.  Recent sharp criticism of the JCE in the 
Dominican press is driven by chronic suspicions of political 
bias among the judges, in a political culture prone to 
conspiracy theories.  The Organization of American States 
(OAS) has announced the arrival of an Election Observation 
Mission April 30, and the diplomatic community including the 
Embassy has committed to support the international observer 
effort. 
 
Jaundiced Views 
 
"The JCE, under a sea of doubts," blared the editorial 
headline of establishment daily "Listn Diario" on April 27. 
"The credibility of the election process has been seriously 
compromised by the clumsiness of the Central Election Board 
and its whims in dealing with the political parties," 
complained generally pro-Fernndez administration Diario Libre 
on April 26.  "Let us dispel the fears," intoned center-left 
"Hoy" on April 27. 
 
Why all the fuss?  In preceding days, the leaders of the 
three major parties and the National Council of Private 
Enterprise (CONEP) had called on the JCE to publish the final 
list of candidates for the elections, whose names had been 
submitted for approval March 16 and approved a week later. 
In the interim, members of the opposition PRD-PRSC alliance 
had been complaining and filing challenges with the JCE's 
dispute resolution chamber, alleging that they had been 
improperly excluded from candidacies for which they had been 
selected by internal primaries. 
 
Even President Fernandez joined the chorus of the querulous. 
The evening of April 26, he denounced the uncertainty of the 
JCE's behavior in the elections, in light of the 
non-consensual manner in which the current JCE judges had 
been "imposed by a tyrannical majority" of PRD senators 
during the selection process in 2002.  He called for 
institutional changes by the new Congress - - which he 
predicted would have a majority of ruling PLD and allied 
legislators - - to ensure selection of impartial judges to 
guarantee a clean election process. 
 
A Timely Announcement 
 
The same evening, the JCE dispelled much of the concern by 
delivering the list of 14,200 registered candidates for 1412 
elected positions to the political parties.  Even "Hoy" 
acknowleged that the release of the list "has been a big step 
forward to defuse the tension in the electoral atmosphere." 
Also that day, JCE elections director Gilberto Cruz Herasme, 
the top technical manager of the election system, confirmed 
to Embassy officers that as of April 24 all candidacies had 
been closed.  In fact, he said, the law allowed the JCE until 
May 11 to deliver the lists - - although earlier delivery was 
desirable. 
 
Any further substitutions could only occur at city council 
level, the lowest in these elections, if accepted by vote of 
the JCE judges.  Names would not change on the ballots, but 
 
the voting for city council is by party lists, and voters 
select a party ticket headed by the candidate for mayor. 
 
Other technical and logistical arrangements were on track, 
according to Cruz Herasme.  The printing of ballots was well 
advanced and, despite glitches with one of the several 
contractors performing this service, he had hired bigger 
firms to finish the ballots and expected to have them all 
delivered to the JCE by May 2.  Meanwhile, in the last week of 
April JCE computer experts began final tests of the election 
data processing system. 
 
The OAS Weighs In 
 
Visiting OAS Deputy Secretary General Ramdin, in town for an 
OAS justice ministers' meeting, helped calm the waters by 
meeting with JCE 
administrative chamber president Nelson Gmez and expressing 
to the press his confidence that there will be clean 
elections, a feeling that he confirmed on April 27 to the 
Ambassador and Embassy officers.  Gmez 
announced that the OAS would send 67 election observers. 
 
Ramdin told the Ambassador and other donor country 
ambassadors that an advance group headed by OAS observation 
mission chief Rubn Perina would arrive here April 30 and 
begin work May 1 (despite the local holiday).  The EU, 
Brazil, and Canada have committed along with the United 
States to fund the OAS mission.  The diplomats discussed with 
Ramdin arrangements for volunteer diplomatic observers to 
operate under the OAS umbrella on election day. 
 
JCE's "Original Sin" 
 
The political alignment of JCE judges is generally 
acknowledged.  Six of the nine judges came  from the ranks of 
the PRD, now in the opposition; two have ties to the 
opposition PRSC; and only  one is identified with the ruling 
PLD.  JCE plenary president Luis rias, formerly of the Hatuey 
DeCamps faction of the PRD, has moved closer to President 
Fernndez since Hatuey bolted and formed his own party. 
 
Even so, Embassy has not noted any bias in JCE decisions in 
this campaign, and the same JCE in 2004 performed impartially 
during a more emotionally charged election than this one.  At 
the technical level, the JCE has strong management; Cruz 
Herasme has been at the JCE since 1996, through six elections 
and four administrations of different parties. 
 
As in 2004, the main concern will be the stance of the JCE's 
dispute resolution chamber when, as is likely, some local or 
provincial elections are disputed on election day or 
immediately after.   Even if, as we expect, the electoral 
process works well overall, there is potential for local 
flashpoints.  Leaders of the ruling party worry that, when 
the chips are down, the PRD-linked judges will show bias in 
throwing one or another local contest to the opposition. 
Although such decisions cannot be ruled out in isolated 
instances where ambiguous circumstances might allow leeway in 
interpretation, they are unlikely to swing the election 
results at a national level. 
 
As one contact remarked to political officer, the JCE is 
itself running for reelection.  It is elected by the Senate 
in accord with the Dominican constitution.  Depending on the 
party balance in the new Senate after August 16, the current 
judges could get four more years if the PRD retains a 
majority or could be replaced if the PLD gains a majority or 
plurality, with enough leverage to force consensus) 
 
Regardless of its generally good track record, the JCE is not 
entirely disinterested in the outcome. 
 
¶2.   (U) Drafted by Bainbridge Cowell. 
 
¶3.  (U) This piece and others in our series can be consulted 
at our SIPRNET web site 
(http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo)  along with 
extensive other material. 
HERTELL