SALEM — The polls opened early today for a presidential election that doesn't involve anybody named Obama, Clinton or McCain.
This is Election Day in the Dominican Republic. For the second time in the country's history, voting for the next president is taking place all over the world — including here in Salem.
"It's a big day for the Dominican Republic," said Yoleny Ynoa, who is one of more than 600 Salem residents expected to vote today inside a small storefront on Harbor Street. Dominicans from other North Shore communities will vote at a second polling place on Lafayette Street.
Like a lot of Dominicans living in this country, Ynoa has dual citizenship. That means he can vote twice for president — once today for the leader of his native land and a second time in November for the next of his new home in the United States.
"I support Hillary," said Ynoa, an active member of the Democratic Party.
Thanks to a law passed a decade ago, Dominicans who live abroad retain their citizenship and can vote in Dominican elections from almost anywhere in the world.
"People are going to vote in Spain, England, Venezuela, Mexico, Panama ..." said Johnny Grullon, who works at VOCES, a health clinic on Harbor Street that has been converted into a polling place.
There also is voting today in Lynn, Lawrence, Boston and other cities across the state with large Dominican populations.
There were parades and rallies last weekend for several candidates.
The two leading contenders are the current president, Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Liberation Party, and challenger Miguel Vargas Maldonado of the Dominican Revolutionary Party.
Both have campaign offices on Lafayette Street.
