Locals vie for office in Dominican Republic

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Dominican Republic politics reached the Bronx earlier this month.

Two Bronx-based candidates for the DR’s house of deputies made a makeshift campaign headquarters at a garage located at the corner of West Kingsbridge Road and Sedgwick Avenue.

Carlos Gomez and Cirilo Moronta covered the vicinity with posters and flyers showing their pictures and that of President Danilo Medina, a Social Democrat who won re-election in a May 15 ballot.

Bronx residents were able to vote in several locations across the borough to elect the president, vice-president and National Congress, which includes the House of Deputies and the Senate.

Jose Carbonell manned the local garage for Mr. Gomez and Mr. Moronta, who ultimately did not win, according to dominicantoday.com.

During a brief interview before the vote, Mr. Carbonell, who was speaking through a translator, said he hopes the next president of the Dominican Republic will have strong U.S. ties.

Dominicans have been able to vote from abroad since 1997, with some 384,000 registered outside the country, according to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, a non-profit that focuses on elections in emerging democracies.

Upper Manhattan Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who has Dominican roots, called the ballot an “opportunity for the diaspora to have a voice.”

“I saw great participation in the [polling sites] I visited,” he said of the recent vote.

Dominican Republic, Vota 5, Alice Guilhamon

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