This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-53268860

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Dominican Republic votes in election postponed over virus Change in Dominican Republic as opposition wins presidency
(about 13 hours later)
People in the Dominican Republic have voted for a new president, in a poll overshadowed by the coronavirus crisis. Early results in the presidential election in the Dominican Republic give the opposition candidate, Luis Abinader, an unassailable lead.
The election, which was postponed from May because of the country's outbreak, could end the Dominican Liberation Party's 16 years in power. His two main rivals have conceded defeat and the outgoing president has congratulated Mr Abinader on his win.
Opinion polls suggest Luis Abinader of the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) is likely to win - after recovering from Covid-19. His victory puts an end to 16 years in power of the centre-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD).
Dominicans will also be choosing members of both houses of parliament. Voter turnout was high despite the election being conducted during the coronavirus pandemic.
Incumbent President Danilo Medina is ineligible to stand for re-election, having served two consecutive terms since 2012. 'We have a president-elect'
If no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes in Sunday's first round, a run-off will be held. With about 60% of the votes counted, Luis Abinader of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) had 53% of the votes.
Who are the top candidates for president? In second place is the candidate for the Dominican Liberation Party, Gonzalo Castillo, with 37% of the votes.
Opinion polls have consistently put Luis Abinader ahead of all other candidates. Mr Abinader needed to have more than 50% of the votes to stave off a second round of voting on 26 July.
Mr Abinader, whose family is of Lebanese descent, is a US-educated economist. While votes are still being counted, Mr Abinader's comfortable lead prompted both Mr Castillo and third-placed candidate Leonel Fernández to concede defeat.
He is executive president of Grupo Abicor, a firm owned by his family which operates major tourism projects in the Dominican Republic. Mr Castillo said that the official count "shows that there is an irreversible trend and that from now on we have a president-elect... Our congratulations to Mr Luis Abinader".
He ran for president in 2016 and made it into the second round, but lost to Mr Medina, who beat him by almost 27 percentage points. Outgoing President Danilo Medina, who has served two consecutive terms and could therefore not run for a third, said that democracy in the Dominican Republic had "emerged stronger" from the election and wished his successor every success.
Mr Abinader and his wife announced on 11 June that they had tested positive for coronavirus and he had to temporarily stop campaigning while he recovered. Mr Abinader said that "all Dominicans had won by voting for change".
The Dominican Republic is one of the worst-affected countries in the Caribbean, with more than 35,000 confirmed cases and more than 775 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Opinion polls had predicted a victory for Mr Abinader after an acrimonious split in the governing Dominican Liberation Party.
Mr Abinader surged ahead in the opinion polls after a split in the governing party. Former President Leonel Fernández left the party, which had chosen Gonzalo Castillo as its presidential candidate, and ran for the presidency for the People's Force party.
President Medina, who has been in power since 2012, has given his backing to party candidate Gonzalo Castillo, a former minister of public works. He is currently in a distant third place with less than 9% of the vote.
Mr Castillo is a wealthy businessman who has founded a number of companies over the years, including aviation firm Helidosa and air ambulance service Aeroambulancia. Mr Abinader celebrated the early results with his supporters while urging them to await the official announcement from the electoral board.
But some Dominican Liberation Party supporters may switch allegiance to former president Leonel Fernández. He appealed for unity, saying that he owed his victory to the Dominican people, who he said had "all won tonight".
Mr Fernández, who was president from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2004 to 2012, decided to run for the People's Force party, which he has been leading since he left the Dominican Liberation Party. It is the second time Mr Abinader, a US-educated economist, ran for the top job in the Caribbean nation.
He studied law in the Dominican Republic but spent much of his youth in New York. He has worked as a lawyer, university professor and author. In 2016 he lost to Danilo Medina in the second round.
Opinion polls have him in third place behind Mr Abinader and Mr Castillo. Some analysts think he benefitted from discontent among Dominicans with the way the government has handled the coronavirus pandemic.
However pollsters acknowledged that, with the elections being held under unprecedented circumstances amid the continuing pandemic, it was hard to predict how voters would react on the day. The election was postponed from its original date in May because of the outbreak.
All candidates had to severely curtail their campaigning due to the virus, but the president of the central electoral board assured voters that polling stations had received hygiene kits and that the nation was "ready" for the elections. Challenges ahead
The Dominican Republic is one of the worst-affected countries in the Caribbean, with more than 37,000 confirmed cases and almost 800 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Mr Abinader and his wife were among those who tested positive for coronavirus and he had to temporarily stop campaigning while he recovered.
Local media reported that the election proceeded smoothly except for one incident in which a person was shot dead outside a polling station when an argument erupted between rival party supporters.
One of the main challenges for Mr Abinader in his new job will be to revive the country's tourism industry which has been battered by the travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.
His own family operates major tourism projects in the Dominican Republic.