1978 Dominican Republic general election

1978 Dominican Republic general election

16 May 1978 (1978-05-16)
Presidential election
Turnout	76.25%
Nominee Antonio Guzmán Joaquín Balaguer Party PRD PR Popular vote 866,912 711,878 Percentage 52.36% 42.99%
Results by department
President before election Joaquín Balaguer PR Elected President Antonio Guzmán PRD

General elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 16 May 1978. Following diplomatic pressure from American President Jimmy Carter, the elections were free and competitive and contested by all political parties, unlike the previous elections in the 1970s. Antonio Guzmán Fernández won the presidential election, whilst his Dominican Revolutionary Party (which had not contested the 1970 and 1974 elections) won the Congressional elections. Voter turnout was 76%.

When counting showed an unmistakable trend toward Guzmán, the Army attempted to stage a coup in favor of incumbent Joaquín Balaguer. However, when the army tried to interrupt the vote count, it was forced to back down amid protests at home and strong pressure from abroad. The final count showed Balaguer had suffered the first defeat of his career, losing by almost 10 points. Although Guzmán was allowed to assume the presidency, the Central Elections Authority redistributed the uncast votes equally between the PRD and the Reformist Party, diminishing the PRD's majority in Congress.

Guzmán's swearing-in on 16 August marked the first time in the country's history that a sitting government had peacefully surrendered power to an elected member of the opposition.

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Antonio Guzmán Fernández	Dominican Revolutionary Party	866,912	52.36
	Joaquín Balaguer	Reformist Party	711,878	42.99
	Francisco Augusto Lora	Movement of Democratic Integration	27,095	1.64
	Juan Bosch	Dominican Liberation Party	18,375	1.11
	Narciso Isa Conde	Dominican Communist Party	9,828	0.59
	Alfonso Lockward	Social Christian Revolutionary Party	7,981	0.48
	Luis Julián Pérez	National Salvation Movement	7,782	0.47
	Luis Homero Lajara Burgos	People's Democratic Party	5,956	0.36
Total			1,655,807	100.00
Valid votes			1,655,807	95.09
Invalid/blank votes			85,530	4.91
Total votes			1,741,337	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			2,283,784	76.25
Source: Nohlen

Congress

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				House	+/–	Senate	+/–
	Dominican Revolutionary Party	838,973	50.98	48	New	16	New
	Reformist Party	692,146	42.06	43	–32	11	–12
	Dominican Liberation Party	18,565	1.13	0	New	0	New
	Movement of Democratic Integration	13,317	0.81	0	New	0	New
	National Civic Union	13,316	0.81	0	New	0	New
	Social Christian Revolutionary Party	11,094	0.67	0	New	0	New
	Social Democratic Alliance	11,056	0.67	0	New	0	New
	Dominican Communist Party	10,751	0.65	0	New	0	New
	Movement of National Reconciliation	7,743	0.47	0	New	0	New
	National Salvation Movement	7,727	0.47	0	New	0	New
	Democratic Quisqueyano Party	5,984	0.36	0	New	0	New
	People's Democratic Party	5,667	0.34	0	–3	0	0
	Revolutionary Movement of the People	3,867	0.23	0	New	0	New
	Independent Provincial Union Movement	1,998	0.12	0	New	0	New
	Justicialist Popular Movement	1,649	0.10	0	New	0	New
	Santuagúes Restoration Movement	1,428	0.09	0	New	0	New
	Municipal Movement of the People	284	0.02	0	–1	0	0
Total		1,645,565	100.00	91	0	27	0
Valid votes		1,645,565	95.06
Invalid/blank votes		85,530	4.94
Total votes		1,731,095	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,283,784	75.80
Source: Nohlen, Campillo Pérez