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SANTO DOMINGO. - A group of evangelists today deposited a document in the Central Electoral Board (JCE), asking the elections court to validate the blank votes citizens would cast on May 16, as a form of protest against the Dominican political system.
Reverend Domingo Paulino Moya, president of the ministry ‘Jesus is Health and Eternal Life’ asked the evangelical community to cast unmarked ballots in the coming electoral contest, as a conscientious vote against the candidates of the different parties.
He said the Board, as the State’s electoral organism, must guarantee the citizens’ freedom of expression as the Constitution establishes. He said the difference between a blank vote and a voided one is that in the former a person is rejecting the candidates and in the latter the person doesn’t know how to cast a ballot.
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That mechanism is used in many States in the USA to protest the existing Party Candidates on the Ballot.
That way your vote can't be voided, but is counted valid and reduces the overall popular vote for a particular Party Candidate andconsequently, the Electoral Votes to be cast.
TB
What we need to do is identify a political movement that are align with our values, and back them up 110% Backing another party will send more of a message than simply submitting an empty vote.
What happens if there isn't a plurality for either candidate in the"run-off"???
That's the place where the a "blank vote" would have the most impact. No winning plurality for any single candidate would cause a severe conundrum in the electoral process and perhaps send a "loud andclear" message to the Parties to change their ways or be "left out in the cold".
What a mess that would be.
TB
In the DR the winner must have a plurality (5.1%) of the votes cast in order to win without a run-off.
After that, as a result of therun-off, the winner must still have 501% of the foves cast in order to win theelection.
At least that is how I understand it.
That being the case, "Blamk Votes" would be counted in theTOTAL and if no one got a 50.1% of the votes cast there would be NO WINNER> Thus it is possible for there to be a "NO WINNER" contest.
I may be wrong in this analysis, but that's how I understand the balloting system here.
Someone correct me if i am wrong.
TB
Trust me, if the Communist or Labor parties get a good percentage of the votes, that would send a bigger message than abstaining or submitting a blank ballot. If these other parties were SMART (hint...) they would court the dissatisfied population. GO TO THE CHURCHES, CAMPOS, AND BARRIORS AND TELL PEOPLE OF YOUR WAY. JUST DON'T SIT IN YOUR HQ WAITING FOR MANA FROM HEAVEN.