He said that there will be 2,500 consultation and manual voting centers abroad
The leader of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and coordinator of the Consultation Commission on Presidential Candidates (Conap), Alejandrina Germán, expressed that the fundamental objective of the organization in the October 16 event is to achieve unity and a high turnout. The perspective of politics is at least 800 thousand people.
He reported that 2,500 consultation centers will be set up and that the voting equipment will be subject to an independent audit. He said that the bulletins with the results will be released after a comparison is made between the physical votes and the electronic record.
What is the PLD’s objective in advancing the election of the presidential candidacy?
l The objective is to unify the entire party around the figure of the partner who has the greatest sympathy in the Dominican population, excluding those who are registered in other political parties. That is why it was decided to measure the level of sympathy of the applicants so that everyone unifies with the one with the greatest sympathy and to be able to consolidate the PLD forces with a single direction. The objective of the consultation is to unify around the most sympathetic applicant.
How many voters are summoned for that consultation?
All those who are registered in the register of the Central Electoral Board until July 31 of this year or 45 days before the consultation process and who are not registered in another party are summoned. With 45 days before, there are no more incorporated, both those who are registered here and those registered abroad who are also going to vote.
How many people are going to work on setting up the consultation?
l The provincial, municipal, circumscription and municipal district commissions are already formed. Each of these commissions is made up of seven colleagues. The foreign ones are being formed now, it has not been concluded. On voting day there will be seven colleagues at each table in each consultation center.
How many consultation centers will there be?
There are 2,500 tables, and in each of them there will be seven members. In cases where it cannot be done with seven, it will be done with five. This staff will be chosen in consensus with the applicants. In the municipal, constituency and foreign commissions, there will be a representative of the applicants. The commissions of the consultation centers will be chosen in consensus with the applicants so that each one feels represented and has no difficulty. We cannot put a representative of each applicant because there are six and then there would be many people.
The bulletins, at what time do they plan to issue them?
Voting hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The result will be compared, because in addition to the electronic vote there will be a ballot box. Then what the electronic result says will be compared with the physical result. When the partner votes in the machine, a printed flyer will come out, he will put it in the ballot box; On that flyer there will be a small black and white photo of who you voted for. So, in the end, when the electronic record comes out, it will be compared with the list of attendees, those who have voted, and with what the ballot box also says. That is why he is going to be very careful that no one leaves with the flyer but rather throws it in the urn before leaving.
To give the result, will you first do a manual count before issuing the bulletins?
The electronic record comes out first, then a manual count is made to verify that everything coincides, and the electronic record is immediately transmitted for the result of each consultation center.
Will the equipment be managed by technicians?
There will be technicians for each demarcation so that any difficulty that may arise can be resolved, and also if there is a team that has faults, it can be replaced without any problem.
How will voting be done abroad?
It is going to vote in nine places. Instead of electronic voting, it will be done with physical ballots.
Why won’t they use electronic voting abroad?
Because we have to move the equipment and do some legal procedures that make it very difficult for us and it is much easier for us to do it with ballots. The cities where you are going to vote are in the United States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Boston, Massachusetts, Florida; in Spain, Madrid and Barcelona, also in Panama and Puerto Rico. And how will the PLD ratify the candidate when the deadline established by Law 33/18 arrives?
When the legal term arrives, a convention of delegates or a general plenary would be convened to ratify the one that has obtained the greatest sympathy, respecting the term established by law. We are not going to violate what is established by the Electoral Law and the Political Parties Law. We are going to unify around the candidate who has the greatest sympathy, respecting the term established by law to make the final election.
If any of the participants is not satisfied with the result of the consultation, could they maintain their aspirations and compete within the legal term? We hope that this does not happen. Before this process was called, all the candidates signed an agreement and promised to respect what the party decides in that consultation.
Do you contemplate auditing the software that will be used for the consultation? l A company will be hired to do it and will be chosen in consensus with the applicants.
Who designed the software?
There is a company that was contracted for that in agreement with the applicants.
What is the expectation of participation that the commission has in view of the consultation?
We expect that at least 800 thousand people will participate. For me the most important thing in this process, I say this in all the meetings, is to achieve the highest level of participation possible, for me that is the most important thing, that people be motivated to go and participate in the consultation, that we have a high level of participation, because that will reaffirm our expectations of the strength of the PLD. Instead of concentrating on which candidate to vote for or not to vote for, the important thing is that the candidates are confident in the openness of the process, and that among all the candidates they can motivate participation. If we reach 800 thousand participants, it is a great achievement.
What is the cost of the consultation?
We don’t have it yet, but we’re going to make it as cheap as possible. The budget is still being prepared.
