Municipal elections suspended in the Dominican Republic due to failures in the automated voting system

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Credit: RICARDO ARDUENGO / AFP via Getty Images

(CNN) - The municipal elections of the Dominican Republic were suspended this Sunday, four hours after the polls were opened.

At a press conference from Santo Domingo, the president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Julio César Castaños, made the announcement after failures were detected in the automated voting system, which was being applied in the 18 most populated municipalities of the country.

Castaños explained that the Electoral Board noticed the inconsistency in the ballot marked in each of the polling stations. According to the president of the JCE, the elections could not be held because the ballot was not fully charged in the demarcations where automated voting would be used.

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The automated voting format was being applied in 18 municipalities, equivalent to 9,757 polling stations, representing 62% of the voters, according to figures from the Central Electoral Board.

The 140 municipalities, which make up the other 38% of voters, and were using the manual format, presented no problems.

In total, more than 7 million Dominicans are registered in the electoral roll.

Castaños said that the JCE will open a "deep investigation" with the objective of knowing what happened in the process. In addition, he said that "the corresponding extraordinary call" will be made for future elections.

Elections