Polls: DR president could be re-elected

But his six opponents have played on memories of former President Joaquin Balaguer, who dominated the top office for decades while jailing critics and rigging elections until Congress in 1994 finally barred sitting presidents from seeking new terms.

That restriction kept Fernandez from running for re-election after his first term from 1996 to 2000, but Congress lifted the ban in 2002 and allowed presidents to try for four more years.

Long lines formed at polling stations in the morning, but tapered off by midday.

The Organization of American States, which had 70 election observers in the country, said the election was going smoothly despite isolated incidents of violence.

A former Army chief and opposition official was detained for loitering near polls with several other men on suspicion that they were trying to influence voters.

From schools in the bustling capital to voting tables in the mountainous interior, voters in the country of 9.5 million marked ballots divided into colorful party flags.

Voting for Dominican citizens abroad was also planned in 17 cities in Latin America, Europe and the United States -including New York, where Fernandez grew up.

In a country where politics is rivaled only by baseball for stirring passions, bars and liquor stores were closed Thursday night in hopes of preventing violence. But three people, including an ex-lawmaker who supported Fernandez, were killed in a northwestern province in a clash between partisans on Wednesday.

Both leading parties support free trade and conservative Catholic social values. Candidates also pledged to hold down food prices and reduce power blackouts with investments.

An economic crisis in the early 2000s caused banks to collapse and inflation hit 30 percent, forcing a devaluation of the peso and prompting many to flee on rickety boats to Puerto Rico and Florida in search of work.