March 26, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - More Dominican voters are voicing support for Leonel Fernández, according to a poll by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates. 56 per cent of respondents would back the incumbent president in this year’s election, up six points since November.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - More Dominican voters are voicing support for Leonel Fernández, according to a poll by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates. 56 per cent of respondents would back the incumbent president in this year’s election, up six points since November.

Opposition candidate Miguel Vargas Maldonado of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) is second with 32 per cent, followed by Amable Aristy Castro of the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) with eight per cent.

In the May 2004 presidential election, Fernández received 57.11 per cent of the vote, defeating incumbent Hipólito Mejía of the PRD and Eduardo Estrella of the PRSC. Fernández had previously served as the Dominican Republic’s head of state from 1996 to 2000.

On Mar. 17, Vargas chose neurological surgeon Joaquín Puello Herrera as his vice-presidential nominee, saying, "Hundreds of thousands of Dominicans have trusted in this man’s safe and prudent hands when their lives have been in danger. And he has saved them, not only because of his extraordinary capabilities but because he is a man of faith."

The next presidential election is scheduled for May 16. A candidate requires more than 50 per cent of the vote to be elected in the first round.

Polling Data

Who would you vote for in the 2008 presidential election?

	Mar. 2008	Nov. 2007	May 2007
Leonel Fernández (PLD)	56%	50%	49%
Miguel Vargas Maldonado (PRD)	32%	35%	35%
Amable Aristy Castro (PRSC)	8%	10%	11%
Not sure	4%	5%	4%

Source: Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,010 Dominican adults, conducted from Mar. 4 to Mar. 6, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.