NewsWhore
03-29-2012, 03:00 PM
The Dominican expat vote could decide the 2012 presidential election, forecast by leading polls to be a tight race between Danilo Medina of the ruling PLD and Hipolito Mejia of the PRD. A total of 328,605 voters are registered to vote abroad, as reported in El Caribe's historical review of the expat vote. A higher turnout is expected this year because the election will be held on a Sunday, and not a weekday as in previous elections. In the 2008 presidential election, voters abroad made up 2.7% of the registered voters. But for 2012, expat voters make up 5.1% of the total voter list of 6,504,943 eligible voters.
The number of potential voters is more than double the 154,789 people who registered to vote in the 2008 presidential election.
Voters abroad will also decide on the overseas deputies, a new position created in the 2010 Constitution, seen as an incentive for attracting Dominicans living abroad to the polls. The Constitution created deputies for North America (US and Canada with three deputies, Europe, including Spain, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, with two deputies, the Caribbean Basin with one deputy, and Florida with one deputy.
In 2008 the abstention rate was about 50%.
Where the voters live abroad:
Canada: 2,692 (0.8%)
The Netherlands: 2,884 (0.9%)
Switzerland: 4,277 (1.3%)
Panama: 5,439 (1.7%)
Venezuela: 5,848 (1.8%)
Italy: 9,582 (2.9%)
Netherlands Antilles: 11,343 (3.5%)
Spain: 63,144 (19.2%)
United States: 223,396 (68%)
www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/03/29/voto-exterior-clave-para-ganar (http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/03/29/voto-exterior-clave-para-ganar)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)
The number of potential voters is more than double the 154,789 people who registered to vote in the 2008 presidential election.
Voters abroad will also decide on the overseas deputies, a new position created in the 2010 Constitution, seen as an incentive for attracting Dominicans living abroad to the polls. The Constitution created deputies for North America (US and Canada with three deputies, Europe, including Spain, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, with two deputies, the Caribbean Basin with one deputy, and Florida with one deputy.
In 2008 the abstention rate was about 50%.
Where the voters live abroad:
Canada: 2,692 (0.8%)
The Netherlands: 2,884 (0.9%)
Switzerland: 4,277 (1.3%)
Panama: 5,439 (1.7%)
Venezuela: 5,848 (1.8%)
Italy: 9,582 (2.9%)
Netherlands Antilles: 11,343 (3.5%)
Spain: 63,144 (19.2%)
United States: 223,396 (68%)
www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/03/29/voto-exterior-clave-para-ganar (http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/03/29/voto-exterior-clave-para-ganar)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)