SANTO DOMINGO: Danilo Medina, an economist backed by the ruling party, was leading the Dominican Republic's presidential race, according to partial results on Monday, but the opposition challenged the figures.
Medina was leading with 51.4 percent of the vote to 46.6 percent for ex-president Hipolito Mejia, with slightly more than 47.3 percent of the precincts reporting, electoral authorities said.
After casting his vote Sunday, Medina told reporters he was convinced he would win, and said that after the election he hoped the Caribbean nation would unite to "overcome the problems of poverty and income disparity," and "create conditions for social inclusion."
But the opposition made its own claim of victory, with a spokesman for the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) insisting that Mejia had won.
"We will present the country our own numbers so that people could see who is telling the truth," said the spokesman, Enmanuel Esquea. "We have said that we won this election, and we will prove this with documents."
Medina, 60, is representing the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) of outgoing President Leonel Fernandez, who has served three terms in office. The president's wife, Margarita Cedeno, is Medina's running mate.
Mejia, 71, governed from 2000 to 2004 in the country of 10 million inhabitants, which shares the mountainous Hispaniola island with Haiti.
Four other candidates also ran in the election but are given a slim chance of having much of an impact. The high cost of living, unemployment, corruption and a soaring crime rate were among top isssues for voters.
Opinion polls ahead of the vote predicted a tight race, and a second round election will be held in June if no candidate secures at least 50 percent of the vote.
Mejia said he was feeling "calm" about the outcome. Economic inequality is another major concern for many of the 6.5 million registered voters, including 328,000 who live abroad, about a third of them in New York.
"I came because I want to be a good citizen and voting is a civic duty," said Altagracia Rosario as she arrived at her local polling station just outside Santo Domingo.
The Dominican Republic sidestepped the global economic crisis in 2008 but remains mired in poverty despite solid economic growth under Fernandez.
Clashes between the candidates' supporters have left two people dead in recent weeks, and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has had to admonish both candidates to tone down their rhetoric.
A Greenberg poll published early in the week gave Medina 51 percent of likely votes, compared to 46 percent for Mejia. Such a tight margin could leave the four minor candidates splitting the few remaining points.
A Gallup poll in late April gave Medina 51 percent and Mejia 44.6 percent. The fact that President Fernandez's wife is Medina's running mate reinforces his image as a candidate who will see through the current government's liberal economic policies, promising "safe change."
The Caribbean nation depends heavily on tourism, remittances from Dominicans living overseas, aid from the International Monetary Fund and cheap oil from Venezuela.
Inflation surpassed seven percent in 2011, unemployment was 14.6 percent and 30 percent of its people live in poverty.
Mejia has shaped his campaign around promises to fight poverty with social programs and policies to boost agriculture and aid farm workers.
An agronomist by training, Mejia has a strong following among poor farmers, with a down to earth style and rhetoric that helped him win the presidency in 2004, when he defeated Medina.
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