DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ELECTION LOGISTICS ON TRACK FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 006581

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/PPC-NOYES, DRL/PHD-DAVIS, WHA/CAR-MCISAAC,
WHA/USOAS-IRVING; STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/RSD-HENDRIX; NSC
FOR CRUZ

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: DR EAID PGOV
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ELECTION LOGISTICS ON TRACK FOR
MAY 2004 VOTE



1. Summary: Elections Director Gilberto Cruz Herasme, a top
technical supervisor of the GODR's Central Election Board
(JCE),has told us the JCE is "90 percent" on track with its
published timetable of preparations for the May 16
presidential election. He flagged two problems: lack of
agreement between the JCE and the political parties on the
composition of 45 municipal election boards (out of 134),and
recent opposition demands that the JCE's technical
directors.resign. On the latter issue, the JCE has received
formal opinions from the two main oppposition parties, but is
awaiting a reply from the government party before deciding
whether to retain the directors. Cruz Herasme emphasized
that technical arrangements for the election would be "better
than ever," particularly the JCE's efforts to recruit
qualified poll workers, train as many of them as possible,
and tighten security. These arrangements will also extend to
poll sites overseas, including the United States, enabling
expatriate Dominicans to vote for the first time. End
summary.

Arrangements "on track"
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2. Director of Elections Gilberto Cruz Herasme, a top
technical supervisor at the GODR's Central Elections Board
(JCE) who is responsible for logistics and security of the
May 16 presidential election, discussed the status of
preparations with poloff and USAID expert October 28. Cruz
Erasme, who had worked at JCE during the 1996 and 2000
presidential elections and two legislative/municipal
elections, assured us the board was "90 percent" on track
with a previously published timetable.

Political parties' consent
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3. Cruz Herasme voiced concern that appointees to 45 of the
134 municipal election boards (juntas municipales
electorales) had not yet gained approval by political party
reps, a formal requirement. The problems affected boards in
the biggest cities, Santo Domingo and Santiago. The JCE
would need the political parties' consent "at every step" of
the process, he explained. However, the process was as far
along as it had been in 1995 for the 1996 election, which
international observers had judged to be free and fair. The
chairman of the JCE's administrative chamber, Judge Nelson
Arias, subsequently told the press that the current problems
would be resolved by mid-November. (Comment: This deadline
may be unrealistic for some of the juntas.)

Opposition demands
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3. The election director's other current concern related to
repeated demands by the main opposition parties (PRSC and
PLD) that he and three other JCE technical directors resign
because of perceived irregularities in the 2002 legislative
and municipal elections. He said it was increasingly
difficult for him to work with the political party delegates
to the election process as long as this issue remained
unresolved, even though only one of the parties -- the PLD --
had included him in the list of officials to be removed. The
JCE had received written opinions on the matter from the two
parties, but was waiting for the ruling PRD to deliver its
views before making a decision whether to retain the
directors. (Note: Action by the JCE's nine judges was
subsequently postponed until November 17.)

Budget uncertainty
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4. Asked whether the JCE would have an adequate budget for
the election, given the GODR's severe economic problems, Cruz
Herasme said that the GODR's budget request of RD $1.882
billion (US $51 million) would suffice, but that its
legislative approval was uncertain. He cited press reports
of a possible cut to RD $1.481 billion (US $40 million) and
said JCE magistrates would lobby with lawmakers to win
support for the original request. (He noted that in similar
fashion Congress had cut the budget for the 2000 election on
orders from the late political strongman and former president
Joaquin Balaguer.) However, he said, the NGO "Coalition for
Transparency" has offered training assistance to the JCE to
supplement its official resources and that the offer would be
included in the JCE's plans. (Note: This NGO coalition
includes the prominent USAID-funded NGO "Participacion
Ciudadana" -- Citizen Participation.)

Recruitment and training of workers
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5. Cruz Herasme emphasized the JCE's efforts to recruit
better qualified personnel as poll workers, political party
delegates to the polls, and municipal board members. The JCE
expects to provide training through local universities for as
many of the 62,500 polling site personnel as possible, and
also to offer training to thousands of political party
delegates. This had been a weak point in previous elections.
He said starting in January the JCE would hold workshops for
poll workers and political delegates, including a module on
how to observe and detect electoral fraud. For the first
time, the JCE would evaluate poll workers' performance and
award prizes or extra compensation if merited.

Security of polls
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6. Security personnel to protect polling sites and election
officials, drawn as usual from the National Police and armed
forces, would also receive university-organized training,
according to Cruz Herasme. He said the JCE was adopting a
new anti-fraud measure, which other countries had used
successfully: sealing in transparent plastic the hand-written
vote tally sheets (actas) from each polling table (colegio)
to prevent their being altered en route to the municipal
electoral board to be entered into the JCE computer system.

Registration problems
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7. Cruz Herasme referred to longstanding problems with
voters' identification cards and the fact that as many as
half of the 3.2 million registered voters did not appear on
the electoral roll at their assigned voting tables. He said
the registration deadline had been extended to January 16 and
additional centers for identification card issuance would
open in November, instead of early May as in previous
elections.. In addition, the newly adopted system of "open"
polling tables -- in which voters could come and go
throughout election day -- would allow time for individual
voters to resolve deficiencies of the electoral roll and i.d.
cards.

Absentee voting
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8. The logistical and security arrangements would also be
extended for the first time to polling sites overseas,
enabling expatriate Dominican citizens to participate. Cruz
Herasme said the JCE would establish polling tables and local
electoral boards in several cities in the U.S. (New York and
Miami, in coordination with local authorities) and other
countries with significant Dominican populations. The would
use trained personnel and security measures on a par with
those at home. He said the election officials would work at
politically neutral sites such as hotels or clubs, rather
than Dominican consulates.

Comment
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9. Cruz Herasme, one of the JCE's top technical supervisors,
impressed us with his professionalism, knowledge, and ongoing
implementation of detailed plans to improve the logistics and
security of the election process for 2004. The technical
aspects of the election appear to be well in hand, provided
the JCE takes the announced measures to facilitate
registration and issuance of i.d. cards. The continuing
public skepticism of the JCE and its intentions is a legacy
of the way in which the GODR pushed the current judges'
appointments through the PRD-dominated Congress last year.
The transparency shown so far by the by the judges in the
JCE's recently reorganized administrative chamber and a
continued strong technical performance by Cruz Herasme and
his colleagues should help build public confidence. The
JCE's main challenge will be political, not technical --
convincing the public that it will administer the election
evenhandedly.


10. We think it unlikely the JCE will yield to the opposition
complaints and fire Cruz Herasme, who is generally well
regarded for his work in past elections. The JCE believes
changing key personnel so close to the election would disrupt
preparations. However, we cannot rule out a decision to
placate the critics by tossing out one of the JCE officials,
perhaps the supervisor of the computing section, whom some
have accused of irregularities in the 2002 election.
Whether he stays or goes, the JCE has already approached the
business community to assign some of its computer experts to
help prepare for election day.
HERTELL