Washington, DC.-In response to urgent requests from its membership in Massachusetts, a delegation of the Dominican American National Roundtable (DANR) and the National Dominican American Council (NDAC) visited Lawrence, MA on Saturday, November 23, 2013 to observe a ballot recount of November 5, 2013 mayoral election won by Councilor Dan Rivera (42) to incumbent Mayor William Lantigua, who demanded a recount.
After recount ended, it was announced Rivera won 7,628 votes to Lantigua’s 7,547, a difference of 81 votes.
«We arrived very early at the South Lawrence East Educational Complex and spent the whole day there observing very closely a meticulous and highly professional hand recount of more than 15,000 ballots,» said DANR Chairman Nestor Montilla who headed the delegation.
«On behalf of the DANR and the National Dominican American Council (NDAC), I would like to praise Mayor Lantigua for understanding that conceding to Councilor Dan Rivera, is the right thing to do at this time. It is customary in USA and the civilized world that the defeated graciously acknowledges and publicly congratulates the winner via telephone or a concession speech. It is official, Dan won by 81 votes after the official ballot recount, becoming the youngest Dominican-American mayor ever in the history of the United States and territories,» Chairman Montilla indicated.
«We ask our members and friends from across the United States to join us in congratulating Dan for becoming the new Chief Executive of the City of Lawrence, a city of 77,000 inhabitants of whom 70 percent is Latino and about 40 percent Dominican,» said DANR President Francesca Pena.
The Dominican-American National Roundtable (DANR) is a non-partisan, non-profit corporation seeking to bring together the different voices of all people of Dominican origin in the United States.
DANR is a national forum for analysis, planning, and action to advance the educational, economic, legal, social, cultural, and political interests of Dominican Americans. It aims to ensure for U. S. Dominicans the full exercise of the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States of America.
With those objectives in mind, DANR is committed to enriching the quality of life in the United States by highlighting the contributions of Dominicans to the larger American society.[email protected]
Acerca de NDAC
El Concilio Nacional Dominico-Americano (NDAC), con sede en Washington, DC, es un órgano cívico de capacitación, apoderamiento, relaciones públicas, comunitarias y participación compuesto por más de 120 concilios locales en formacion en los Estados Unidos y sus territorios, incluyendo Puerto Rico y la Islas Vírgenes Americanas, con la función de determinar la agenda nacional Dominico-Americana en la convención annual de la Mesa Redonda Dominico-Americana (DANR) y de abogar por el desarrollo socio-económico y político de nuestras comunidades en áreas concernientes a educación, desarrollo económico, salud, inmigración, vivienda y apoderamiento comunitario. (nationalcouncil@