On May 16th this year, the Dominicans will go to the polls for the congressional and municipal elections. This election is very important as the posts are for 6 years, rather than the usual four, so that in the future they will be held at the same time as the Presidential elections. The next Presidential elections are in 2012, and from then on 2016 for all elections and every four years thereafter.
So, on May 16th, across the country, Dominicans will be voting for their Senators, Deputies, Mayors and Registrars.
Senators and Deputies have the same role here as in the USA. The law making bodies of the country. Mayors here (used to be called Sindico but they are trying to get us to use the word Alcalde now!) have a significant amount of power and run the local authority. They are responsible for the roads, the public works, building permissions, cemeteries and collecting all local taxes. They are supported by a team of Registrars.
Here in Juan Dolio, we are in the Province of San Pedro de Macoris. San Pedro is divided into 6 municipalities, of which Guayacanes/Juan Dolio is one. The municipality of Guayacanes, as well as Juan Dolio, includes Los Conucos, Honduras, H3, Los Solares, Hoyo del Torro and el Cruce de Caracoa.
There is one Senator for the whole Province, 6 Deputies, one Mayor for each of the 6 municipalities and between 5 and 17 Registrars for each municipality. Guayacanes/Juan Dolio has 5 Registrars and San Pedro itself, 17.
The following table shows the figures of actual population and voters.
| Municipality | Population | Voters | % |
| San Pedro de Macoris | 205,911 | 131,070 | 64 |
| Guayacanes/Juan Dolio | 11,320 | 4,029 | 36 |
| Los Llanos | 25,404 | 13,855 | 54 |
| Ramon Santana | 9,266 | 5,490 | 59 |
| Consuelo | 31,405 | 18,457 | 59 |
| Quisqueya | 18,528 | 11,116 | 60 |
| Total | 301,744 | 183,967 | 61 |
It is interesting to see what a low percentage of voters Juan Dolio has, due to the fact a lot of people live here who are either registered to vote elsewhere in the country, or who are foreigners who do not have the right to vote.
The next report on the Elections will describe the candidates!!