Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Washington Heights in upper Manhattan on Saturday to demand that Dominican Republic election officials step down after a system glitch halted municipal elections a week ago.
“They sabotaged the elections,” said protester Luisa Terrero, 30. “Votes submitted were only in favor of the current president. It’s crazy.”
People in the Dominican Republic have been protesting since the system went haywire Sunday. The protesters are demanding answers to allegations of corruption.
“People were trying to vote and the machines weren’t working. They could only vote for the Dominican Liberation Party already in power,” said Dominican Republic native Alejandra Ortiz. “We are fighting against the corruption in our home.”
Some candidates in elections for local government officials were omitted from ballots because about half of the country’s voting machines were faulty, said Julio César Castaños Guzmán, president of the Dominican Republic Central Electoral Board.
Castaños Guzmán said at a press conference last week that voting was suspended about three hours after the polls opened.
Protesters believe the machines were sabotaged to set help backers of Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina.
Dominican Republic authorities are still investigating the ballot machine meltdown, and have rescheduled the election for Mar. 15.
Police reported no arrests at the protest.
Washington Heights has a big population from the Dominican Republic. Leonel Fernández, who grew up in the neighborhood, was the Dominican Republic’s president from 2004 to 2012, before Medina took office.
