Dominicans make history

Maria Rivera hopped into her Jeep yesterday, drove to the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Jamaica Plain to vote for a new president of the Dominican Republic, and made history. It marked the first time she and other Dominicans living in Boston and abroad could cast their ballots in the Caribbean nation's presidential election.

"I feel I have some responsibility with my country," said Rivera, who left her homeland for Boston 13 years ago. "Even though I am here, I still worry about what goes on there. I follow the news and stay in touch with my family. I want things to improve back there."

With yesterday's election, in which presidential challenger Leonel Fernandez defeated the incumbent, President Hipolito Mejia, the Dominican Republic became the latest country to allow expatriate voting. Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Honduras are among others.

At least 52,000 Dominicans who are registered to vote headed to voting booths set up in schools and community centers in heavily Dominican enclaves in the United States and overseas. Dominicans in cities such as New York, Miami, San Juan, and Madrid cast their ballots by picking a color that represented their candidate's party.

In New England, the Dominican Consulate organized voting places in Boston, Lawrence, Salem, Worcester, and Providence. Ever since Dominicans began immigrating to Boston and beyond, they have pushed for the right to vote in their homeland's elections. In previous elections, some Dominicans flew back to the island nation to make their political voice heard.

"Even though we are here, we are very aware of what is going on back in the Dominican Republic," said Alba Rosado, who was helping at one of the voting tables yesterday at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School. "By voting, we are looking out for what is going on there."

While the number of overseas registered voters may seem paltry for a country with 8.8 million residents, Dominicans' strong ties with family abroad can influence votes. The election has been scrutinized by Dominicans on the island and abroad because the Caribbean nation's economy has plummeted in the last year.

"A lot of Dominicans come here, work hard, and pay their taxes, and they send a great part of their checks to relatives back home," said Angel Amy Moreno, professor of a course on the history of Latinos in Boston at Northeastern University.

Dominican citizens living abroad have sent back an estimated $2 billion a year in family remittances, according to the US Department of State's website.

"So that money they earn here is sustaining the economy in many ways back in the Dominican Republic," Moreno said. "Public officials and the politicians in the Republic know very well the role these countrymen play in supporting the economy and influencing their families."

The importance of expatriates' votes has also been recognized. Both Mejia and Fernandez made campaign stops in Boston and Lawrence, which have the state's largest concentration of Dominicans. Statewide, there are 53,000 Dominicans, according to the 2000 Census. In recent weeks, campaign advertisements peppered local Spanish-language television and radio newscasts.

The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has about 24 political parties but three principal ones. The three main candidates were Mejia, the candidate for the Dominican Revolutionary Party; Fernandez, former president and candidate for the Dominican Liberation Party; and Eduardo Estrella, candidate for the Social Christian Reformist Party.

At the Jamaica Plain voting center yesterday, voters for the Dominican presidential race chose a color: white for the DRP, purple for the DLP, and red for the Social Christian Reformist Party.

After they voted, clusters of Dominicans gathered outside the school debating the island's future. Some felt that new leadership is needed to restore the country's poor financial health. Others believed that the current president should continue.

"It's great we can vote from here from now on," said Alcibiades Cacso, who in the last election flew to Santo Domingo to vote for Mejia. Yesterday, he walked in the rain from his Jamaica Plain home to cast his vote for him,

"to maintain the improvements he has made," Cacso said.

But last night, Mejia conceded defeat, announcing that he was recognizing Fernandez as winner to reporters at his party command center with only about 3 percent of the results officially released.

Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.