In the News: Municipal elections suspended in the Dominican Republic

Text by: Stefanie Schüler Follow

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Municipal elections were to be held yesterday in the Dominican Republic. But four hours after the opening of the polling stations, the president of the Election Commission was forced to suspend the elections on the whole of the national territory. The reason: " a technical flaw in the electronic voting system ", announces the daily Listin Diario . This electronic vote is used in the 18 main cities of the country which concentrate 62% of the Dominican voters. According to the newspaper, opposition politicians denounced the fact that the candidates of their parties were not on the electronic ballot papers while those of the PLD, the ruling party in power, were there.

Voters, especially those waiting outside the polling stations at the time of the announcement, reacted with a mixture of amazement and anger, according to the newspapers this morning. " In several cities across the country, violence has broken out, leaving at least two dead and several injured, " said Diario Libre .

The Election Commission has announced an in-depth investigation to identify the cause of the technical problems that have arisen in the electronic voting system, writes El Nacional . The newspaper also reports an emergency meeting between Dominican President Danilo Medina and election observers from the Organization of American States last night at the Presidential Palace. For the moment, no new date for the resumption of the electoral process has been announced.

Dominican editorialists are visibly worried. That of Nuevo Diario emphasizes that the suspension of the vote " was certainly the least harm since it would have been worse to see the triumph of new mayors from questionable elections ".

But what is at stake today goes beyond this municipal deadline, estimates the daily Hoy . "It is the credibility of the electoral institution itself, that which should have been able to organize and guarantee the vote of the Dominican population, which is now in doubt".

“ Unheard of since the end of the dictatorship in 1962! Exclaims Listin Diario before concluding: " The Dominican Republic has plunged into deep electoral uncertainty when there are only 90 days left before the presidential and legislative elections ".

Bolivia : the dolphin of Evo Morales leads the voting intentions for the presidential election of May 3

After the controversial presidential election last fall, outgoing president Evo Morales had to resign on November 10. And today it is his runner-up, Luis Arce, who is largely in the lead in voting intentions. " According to a poll published this Sunday, the candidate of the MAS, the Movement towards socialism, collects 31.6% of the intentions of vote, in front of the ex-head of the centrist Carlos Mesa, with 17.1% and the interim conservative president Jeanine Añez with 16.5%, ”explains El Pais . Luis Arce, who was Minister of the Economy under Evo Morales, was nominated candidate of the MAS at the beginning of January. And " he clearly benefits from the dispersion of the votes of the opposition which starts in the race with several candidates ".

" As of yesterday evening, the sympathizers of the opposition launched calls on social networks ", reports for its part El Diario . " They are asking the opposition to create a united front to ensure victory over the socialists in Bolivia ."

In the United States, a federal court this weekend ordered the German groups Bayer and BASF to pay $ 265 million in compensation to a Missouri farmer.

The cause: dicamba, a widely used but controversial pesticide for its tendency to spread easily and kill less resistant plants. Bill Bader, owner of the largest peach orchards in the region, had filed a lawsuit against the two companies. " The judges have proven him right, " rejoices the local newspaper St. Luis Post-Dispatch: " the excessive use of dicamba by the farmers around his plantations destroyed the orchards of Bill Bader. The damages amount to 200 million dollars ”.

Bayer, who argued that dicamba was safe for crops as long as users followed the instructions, announced Monday morning that it would appeal.

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• Dominican Republic
• Bolivia
• United States

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