Dominicans in The Bronx are getting ready to take part in their country's elections and both presidential candidates were in town this week.
Danilo Medina and Hipolito Mejia were both in New York City courting voters for the Dominican Republic's upcoming May 20 presidential election. This will be the third time in history where Dominicans living abroad can cast their ballots.
Five percent of registered Dominican voters live abroad and more than 100,000 of those are in New York City. Maximo Padilla is part of the group that wrote the legislation giving Dominicans the right to vote abroad and says these elections could potentially be decided by those voters.
This year for the first time, Dominicans in the U.S. will be able to elect three representatives in their legislature to advocate for the interests of Dominicans abroad.