Dominican Republic presidential election, 2012
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Presidential elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 20 May 2012. They were the fifth quadrennial elections for the presidency and vice-presidency since 1998, when a change in the electoral law separated the presidential from the congressional and municipal elections.
As specified in the new constitution ratified in January 2010, the presidential elections of 2012 coincided with the election of Overseas Deputies in Dominican expatriate communities. Since 1974, elections in the Dominican Republic took place on 16 May every four years. Nevertheless, the constitutional reform of 2009 stipulated in article 209 that the elections would be held on 20 May 2012 to avoid their falling on a work day. Candidates for the presidency competed for the highest number of votes, with the leader needing more than 50% of valid ballots to avoid a second round.
Danilo Medina of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party was elected president with a majority of votes in the first ballot.
This was the first election to involve participation by Dominican citizens abroad. In addition to voting for the president and vice-president, Dominican expatriates participated in by-elections for seven new seats (within three overseas constituencies) in the Chamber of Deputies.
In 2008, Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Liberation Party defeated candidates Miguel Vargas Maldonado of the Dominican Revolutionary Party; Amable Aristy Castro of the Social Christian Reformist Party; Eduardo Estrella of the Revolutionary Social Democratic Party; Trajano Santana of the Independent Revolutionary Party; Guillermo Moreno of the Movement for Independence, Unity and Change; and Pedro de Jesús Candelier of the Popular Alliance Party in the presidential elections, while the Dominican Liberation Party maintained a considerable majority in both houses of Congress. The main topics of the campaign of 2008 were the issue of reelection, the macroeconomic stability maintained by the Fernández government, and the alleged corruption which dominated the political landscape. The Santo Domingo Metro and other national matters were also important topics, especially during the final months of the campaign.
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