Municipal elections were suspended in The Dominican Republic for about four hours after voting began on Sunday due to a glitch in the electronic voting system. It is the first time that municipal elections have been suspended.

Outlook

More than 7.4 million voters who were due to vote for the 3,849 positions in 158 municipalities across the Caribbean nation were stranded. The electronic system was used in 18 of the 158 municipalities and focused on cities and regions with high population density, accounting for 62.4 percent of the electorate.

The president of the Central Electoral Board, Julio Castanos Guzman said that voting was halted after about three hours because nearly half of the electronic devices did not work properly and many virtual ballot papers did not load, leaving citizens unable to cast their votes.

“We are going to initiate a thorough investigation of what happened and why those ballot papers did not load correctly,” he said in a press conference.

These irregularities raise questions about whether the country’s electoral body is ready to conduct general elections, which are scheduled to hold in May.

What Will Happen Next?

While investigations into the cause of these technical glitches are ongoing, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) has announced that the municipal elections suspended on Feb. 16 will be held on March 15 with only paper ballots to avoid similar issues. Several opposition parties, such as the People’s Force, of former President Leonel Fernandez, had earlier objected to the use of electronic voting due to fears that the software could be manipulated.

These elections will be pivotal for both the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) which, together with its allies, controls 107 of the 158 mayors and the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), which controls 30.

Members of the municipal council in The Dominican Republic are usually elected for a four-year term.