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Dominica 2009 Election Polls closed
In less than ten hours or so, Dominicans will know which of the five political parties and sixty-four candidates contesting the December 18 2009 general elections will form the next government.
Polling stations throughout the islands opened at 7:00am today and closed promptly at 5:00pm moments ago. The ballots will now becounted and preliminary results from the various polling stations and constituencies should start being announced sometime after 6:00pm.
Voters lined up to cast their votes earlier this morning when the polls first opened. However there was a lull in voting throughout the day for the most part. Preliminary reports indicated that the process seemed to have worked well. Steven Griner, Team Leader of the OAS Observer Mission to Dominica conceded that polling stations throughout the island for the most part opened on time and the process seem to have been progressing satisfactorily. Election observers from the OAS and CARICOM monitored the process.
Police Inspector Claude Weeks also reported that the elections process was progressing satisfactorily and incident free. He noted that the various political parties seemed to have adhered to the election code.
A record number of candidates contested the elections. The incumbent Dominica Labour Party field a full slate of twenty-one (21) candidates while the United Workers Party contested seventeen (17) constituencies. The Dominica Freedom Party fielded Eleven candidates while the Dominica Progressive Party and the People’s Democratic Movement are competing in five and three constituencies respectively. There are five independent candidates.
Although a DLP commissioned CADRES poll predicted a landslide victory for the party, many political commentators believe that outcome is very unlikely given the fact that a number of incumbent DLP seats are under pressure. There are also a few UWP seats that may be up for grabs. And while the DFP is not favoured to win a seat it may split enough votes in some of those marginal constituencies to tip them away from the incumbent party
Key marginal constituencies to watch where the incumbent MP may be under pressure include Laplaine (UWP), Carib Territory (DLP), Castle Bruce (DLP), St.Joseph (DLP), Roseau Central (UWP), and Roseau North (Julius Timothy won on UWP ticket but cross the floor and joined Labour). Colihaut and Mahaut might be interesting.
Dominica Central will monitor the situation closely to bring you the results as they become available.
