Political party representatives in the Dominican Republic have proposed discounts on passports and driving licenses, easier access to scholarships and social assistance programs, and the temporary suspension of toll payments on election day, all aimed at encouraging citizens to vote.
The proposals were collected in the Study on Electoral Abstention in the Dominican Republic: National and Overseas Voting, coordinated by the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (IIDH) through its Center for Electoral Advisory and Promotion (Capel), based on research carried out under a technical assistance agreement with the Central Electoral Board (Junta Central Electoral, JCE).
The study found that rising abstention stems from a combination of political, economic and logistical factors that discourage or hinder participation. Political party representatives interviewed for the research put forward various measures to boost turnout, though the report does not specify which organization proposed each idea.
Discounts and social benefits proposed
Among what the study calls "citizen incentives," representatives suggested applying discounted fees on official services such as passports, driving licenses and civil status certifications for people who vote.
They also proposed giving voters priority or facilitated access to social assistance programs and scholarships, along with measures to cut travel costs, such as allowing free passage through toll booths on election day.
The proposals are based on the idea that for some citizens, going to vote involves transport costs, time and other material difficulties that can become obstacles to exercising the right to suffrage.
Electronic voting reconsidered
The party recommendations go beyond incentives. The study also recorded a proposal to move again toward electronic voting models, gradually, with auditability and consensus, starting with pilot programs in areas that have the necessary conditions.
It also proposes expanding the digital transmission of results directly from polling stations to reduce manual handling of vote tally sheets.
The proposal carries particular weight given the precedent of the municipal elections of 16 February 2020, which were suspended nationwide after problems were detected with ballots in the automated voting system.
The JCE explained at the time that numerous machines had loaded the list of candidates incompletely. A later audit by the Organization of American States (OEA) attributed the failure to deficiencies in information technology management, including a defect in the personalization software and a lack of adequate mechanisms to detect the problem, and found no evidence of sabotage or fraud.
Two years later, the Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional, TC) declared unconstitutional Article 99 of the former Law 15-19, which had authorized the JCE to manage the progressive automation of the voting process.
The ruling, contained in judgment TC/0484/22, found that lawmakers had delegated to the JCE the regulation of a matter tied to the fundamental right to suffrage without establishing a concrete model or the guarantees needed to preserve its essential content.
For the 2024 elections, the JCE kept manual voting and vote counting, supported by equipment used to digitize, scan and transmit results from polling stations.
Other recommendations
Party representatives consulted for the study also suggested issuing free duplicate identity cards during the month before elections, as a way to counter the practice of withholding voters' identity documents in exchange for money or under political pressure.
Other recommendations included allowing the recording of vote counts under official protocols, strengthening oversight of the use of state resources for campaign purposes, guaranteeing greater equity in access to media, and promoting rotation in party leadership.
These proposals are among the alternatives gathered by researchers in response to abstention that reached 45.6% in the 2024 presidential election.
