SANTO DOMINGO. - The Central Electoral Board (JCE) expects the "highest voting abroad" compared with previous balloting on record, said the court’s president Julio Cesar Castños.

In the second JCE press conference on Friday afternoon, the official said he received information that in Madrid and New York, the main voting centers for Dominicans abroad, abstention has been very low and the turnout can be defined as "massive."

As to reports of violence in some parts of the country, Castaños called them “isolated” actions."We expect Dominicans continue as they’ve been so far: peacefully, with calm and in order; and we urge them to vote and to continue voting."

In the Santo Domingo sector Bella Vista, polling table official Suzi Lora de Noel said of the table's 575 people registered, 279 had already cast their vote as of 12 noon.