Residents of the Costa Verde housing development will vote for candidates in the Distrito Nacional in upcoming elections following an electoral boundary update. The Central Electoral Board, known as the JCE, approved the cartographic changes during its regular administrative session on June 17, 2026.
( DIARIO LIBRE/ARCHIVO )
The approval ends a dispute lasting more than two decades over the administrative status of the residential area. Costa Verde sits between Independencia Avenue and the Caribbean Sea, directly on the border between the Distrito Nacional and the municipality of Santo Domingo Oeste.
The conflict originated from differing interpretations of Article 2 of Law 163-01, which sets the western boundary of the Distrito Nacional at the western edge of Costa Verde. Residents maintained that because the entire neighborhood lies east of that line, it belongs fully to the capital. In practice, however, authorities continued to treat the neighborhood as part of Santo Domingo Oeste, keeping residents registered in voting centers in that municipality.
This arrangement created legal contradictions after the Constitutional Court and the Superior Electoral Court ruled that Costa Verde belongs to the capital. Residents continued voting for the mayor, councilors, senator, and deputies of Santo Domingo Oeste, despite having their designated senator and public prosecutor's office assigned to the Distrito Nacional.
Legal rulings and court orders
The JCE enacted the mapping change after answering a formal query submitted by Francisco Peña, the mayor of Santo Domingo Oeste, concerning the administrative and electoral classification of the sector. The Superior Electoral Court had previously ordered the JCE to move Costa Verde residents into capital voting centers, ruling that keeping them in Santo Domingo Oeste violated their right to elect and be elected.
In its official response, the JCE cited Constitutional Court ruling TC/0172/23, which determined that the neighborhood belongs to the Distrito Nacional under Law 163-01. The electoral body also highlighted Superior Electoral Court ruling TSE/0004/2025, which held that registering residents in Santo Domingo province violated fundamental rights. That ruling ordered the board to transfer citizens to Distrito Nacional voting centers or create new voting locations within the neighborhood.
The JCE noted that the Superior Electoral Court reinforced this position in ruling TSE/0028/2025. The board stated that as an electoral authority, it must obey binding court decisions, particularly those of the Constitutional Court. However, it clarified that resolving territorial boundary conflicts falls outside its constitutional functions.
Years of community petitions
Public demands from residents date back to at least 2017, when the local Neighborhood Council secured a certification from the Senate of the Republic. That document confirmed that Law 163-01 remained unchanged and that Costa Verde belonged to the capital.
In March 2025, eight years after obtaining the Senate document, the Neighborhood Council served legal notices via bailiff act to both the JCE and the Mayor's Office of the Distrito Nacional. Community leaders called for immediate enforcement of Law 163-01 and the corresponding court decisions.
Neighborhood leaders emphasized at the time that their representation was split, as they dealt with capital prosecutorial jurisdiction while voting for municipal representatives in Santo Domingo Oeste. The JCE ruling resolves the administrative conflict, allowing residents to exercise their full political rights in the Distrito Nacional in future election cycles.
