New York — El Faro Latino is deepening its journalistic investigation into public funds allocated by the Dominican Republic’s Central Electoral Board for the distribution of informational correspondence to Dominican voters registered abroad during the electoral process associated with the general elections held on May 19, 2024.
This new phase of the investigation follows the newspaper’s receipt of official documentation provided directly by the Central Electoral Board in response to a formal public access to information request submitted through the Dominican Republic’s Unified Public Access to Information Portal under file SAIP-SIP-97356.
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According to documentation provided by the electoral institution through communication DAI-133-2024, issued by its Directorate of Access to Information, payments related to the distribution of electoral correspondence reached US$411,159.28 in contracting associated with vendors operating in the United States.
In addition to that amount, €122,588.61 corresponds to documented contracting in Europe for similar electoral correspondence distribution services. Based on conversion estimates into U.S. dollars, the total documented amount exceeds US$543,582.66.
The journalistic investigation is now focused on examining the documentary, contractual, and administrative structure of those disbursements, including the legal identity of the vendors involved, the nature of the services contracted, the institutional procedures followed for approval, and the financial traceability of the payments made.
As part of this investigative line, El Faro Latino had previously initiated journalistic verification concerning specific contracting linked to electoral correspondence distribution in overseas jurisdictions, including vendors whose corporate documentation and operational capacity were under independent journalistic review at the time of the investigation.
The documentation provided by the Central Electoral Board significantly expanded the scope of analysis by incorporating lists of beneficiary companies, allocated amounts, and the geographic distribution of portions of the expenditures associated with the overseas electoral process.
The newspaper is also examining whether the contracted services were proportionate to the operational needs of the electoral process, considering that some of the information directed to voters was also reportedly available through official institutional digital channels and other publicly accessible electoral guidance platforms.
At this stage, this review constitutes an ongoing journalistic examination of public records, contractual documentation, and institutional expenditures, and does not represent a definitive finding of wrongdoing, misconduct, illegality, or liability by any public institution, official, contractor, vendor, or third party unless and until such determinations are established by competent authorities or independently verified through documentary evidence.
Simultaneously, new information and documentary complaints received by the newsroom concerning other logistical components of the Dominican overseas voting process, including electoral security, food services, transportation, and administrative travel expenditures, are being subjected to separate and independent journalistic verification processes.
This investigation forms part of El Faro Latino’s broader special coverage focused on public transparency and the use of Dominican state funds in the organization of overseas voting operations.
The newspaper stated that the objective of this investigation is to independently examine documentary records, verify institutional expenditures, evaluate administrative traceability, and seek factual clarification regarding the allocation and execution of public resources used in overseas electoral operations.
El Faro Latino will continue documenting this investigative line as independent verification of the documents obtained progresses and as relevant institutional responses become available.
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