Dominican Republic: Small Parties Receive Millions Despite Minimal Votes Under New Funding Rules

In the Dominican Republic, a significant portion of public funds intended for political organizations is being distributed to smaller parties that garnered minimal votes, raising concerns about the efficiency and purpose of political financing. This year alone, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) is set to distribute 1.62 billion Dominican pesos to political entities. Of this amount, 129.6 million pesos are allocated to parties that received the lowest vote counts in the 2024 elections, resulting in an allocation of approximately 3.9 million pesos for each.

Historically, public funds were distributed based solely on the results of the most recent election, as stipulated by the Law on Parties, Political Groups, and Movements. However, this criterion was challenged before the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE). Several organizations questioned the distribution method, arguing for a different mechanism to determine eligibility and fund proportions. Parties like Alianza País (Alpaís), Dominicanos por el Cambio (DXC), and País Posible (PP) were among the first to contest the existing distribution.

Following these challenges, the TSE introduced a new criterion. The Superior Electoral Tribunal, through ruling TSE/0010/2025 in June 2025, established that for public financing purposes, the "last election" should encompass the entire electoral cycle, meaning all ordinary elections held within a single year. Consequently, the distribution now considers results from all seven levels of election: presidential, senatorial, deputies, mayors, council members, district directors, and local councilors.

This revised approach has led to a situation where numerous political organizations that did not even achieve 1% of the vote are now benefiting from public resources. This new system was upheld by the Constitutional Court (TC) with sentence TC/0746/2026, which rejected a legal challenge by the Justice Social (JS), National Unity (PUN), and Democratic Option (OD) parties. These parties sought to nullify the new criteria set by the TSE for the allocation and distribution of public financing and the order of electoral ballots. The TC affirmed that the electoral court acted lawfully, basing its decision on the principles of equality, equity, proportionality, and reasonableness, alongside the right to political participation.