Polls: DR president could be re-elected

Fernandez obtained 56 percent of votes based on interviews with almost 19,000 voters at 100 stations across the country, said Andrew Claster, vice president of Washington-based Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates.

Construction magnate Miguel Vargas captured 39 percent of votes and populist candidate Amable Aristy got 4 percent, he said.

The poll has a margin of error of less than plus or minus 1 percentage point, and does not include results from overseas polls.

Dominican officials have not issued any results and were still counting ballots from polls that closed at 6 p.m. (2200 GMT) Friday. It was not immediately clear how many Dominicans voted.

Fernandez was favored to become the first president to win re-election since the country's last strongman was ousted 12 years ago, despite concerns over long-serving politicians in a country with a painful history of iron-fisted rule.

The former New Yorker was expected to easily capture the most ballots among 5.7 million registered voters. Vargas is hoping Fernandez receives less than 50 percent to force a second round.

In the late afternoon, Fernandez pressed his way through a throng of cheering supporters and cast his vote at a school in Villa Juana, the capital neighborhood where he was born. He talked with a poll worker as she scrubbed an ink stain off his hand.

"I am proud of the Dominican people," Fernandez said later in a brief speech. "The people have gone to the polls in an exemplary way."

Fernandez could become the first president to win a consecutive term since the last strongman was ousted 12 years ago. He has led the nation out of an economic crisis and overseen major public works projects, including construction of the Caribbean's first subway system.