Late Wednesday, hundreds of people were flooding the street once more, as the angry citizens of the Caribbean were forced to withdraw the electronic voting system from Sunday's municipal elections. The police reports have said that there were indications of "sabotage" or vote rigging during the election that may lead to more arrests.

The citizens who were raising their flags and pounding their pots and pans protested in front of the Central Electoral Board on Tuesday- the tear gas ended the said protest. Thus far officials said they will remain amid the boiling outrage and evidence that the authorities were attempting to manipulate the vote.

One Central Electoral Board member, Roberto Saladín, responded by saying that neither he nor his associates would be resigning.

According to the newspaper of Listin Diario, Saladin said last Wednesday that the Dominican people rightfully deserve for the establishment to organize these elections and to not leave the process in the middle.Saladín also added that they should be brought to court if the people wanted them removed.

The Associated Press reported that authorities said about half of voting stations experienced issues using electronic ballot machines. Although the machines were only in use in the capital and 17 out of 158 municipalities, they were in some of the country's most highly populated regions.

Participants hold lit candles at a gathering in front of the Central Electoral Board to protest on the suspension of nationwide municipal elections due to an electronic glitch only four hours after voting began on last Sunday, in Santo Domingo
(Photo : Reuters)

ELECTION DO-OVER

When political parties claimed that a few of their candidates did not even appear on the electronic ballots, on March 15, the government took the unprecedented step of scrapping the vote and demanding a new, manual vote.

Late Wednesday, National Police spokesperson Frank Félix Durán Mejía said Col. Ramón A. Guzmán Peralta and Claro Telecom company technician Manuel Antonio Regalado were arrested for attempting to discredit the vote. He implied however that they blindly follow orders and "collaborate with the main writers."

The problems are now being evaluated internationally for the electronic voting machines. After the failure of the e-voting system, results from the primary Iowa democratic caucus this month remain unknown. The Dominican Republic is demanding the electronic vote system to be investigated by the outside organizations. The United States Organization said that it also planned the presence of observes until the new vote is taken in the Dominican Republic.

In its statement, it stated that the OAS acknowledges that, given the country's tension, the various players have shown a commitment to peace, and believes that it is important to strengthen dialogue, in order to ensure credible, reliable and transparent election results, between political parties and the electoral authorities.

President Danilo Medina has asked for calm and ordered a full investigation to ensure that the election system is secure and open for the May presidential and new elections.

He had also said in this week's national television address that it is time to reflect, fix our mistakes and make the best out of ourselves. He had also reminded his people that it is what the country needs right now- for all of its citizens to be patriots.