Dominicans in the U.S. can vote in presidential elections
Current Dominican laws allow for Dominicans overseas to vote in presidential election, and so close is the race that the candidates' campaigns are courting Dominicans abroad. The online paper refers that on June 7, 2011, President Fernandez signed a law that gives Dominicans abroad seven seats in the Dominican Congress, with the possibility of five of the seven congressional seats elected in the US, including Puerto Rico.
The US 2010 Census ranked the Dominican population in the US, with over 1.4 million people, the fourth highest Latino group in the nation. According to the report, with more than 220,000 registered Dominican voters in the US eligible to vote in the May 20th election, Dominicans in the US make up more voters than 27 of the 31 provinces in the country. The total number of Dominicans registered to vote overseas stands at 5 percent of the total voting population of 6.5 million.
