The Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court (TC) has returned to the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) a case concerning the regulation of election opinion polls, ruling that the electoral court could not transfer the matter to it simply by declaring itself without jurisdiction.
The case began when the Central Electoral Board (JCE) issued a resolution setting rules for registering polling firms and for the publication and broadcast of election polls. The organization Justice Without Borders (Justicia Sin Fronteras) challenged the resolution before the TSE, but that tribunal declared itself incompetent and sent the file to the TC, arguing the dispute involved a constitutional question that only the high court could review.
The Constitutional Court disagreed that the TSE could send it the case directly. It explained that a complaint filed before the TSE does not automatically become a case before the Constitutional Court simply because the TSE declares itself without jurisdiction.
The court ordered the file returned to the TSE and described the referral as an erroneous submission. It said the power of courts to determine their own jurisdiction does not allow them to modify the powers assigned to other bodies.
The ruling does not decide whether the JCE's regulation on polls is constitutional, and the TC did not rule on the request for a provisional suspension of the challenged provisions. Its decision was limited to finding that the file had not reached the court through the correct procedure and therefore had to go back to the TSE.
Poll ban already suspended
The dispute now stands differently than when Justice Without Borders first went to the TSE. On August 20, the JCE decided to provisionally suspend the application of Article 13 of its resolution, which had barred publishing or broadcasting polls for electoral purposes outside pre-campaign and campaign periods, along with the sanctions tied to that ban. That suspension remains in place while the competent bodies decide on the legality of the regulation.
Why the TC rejected the referral
The Constitutional Court said that declaring itself without jurisdiction did not give the TSE the authority to transfer the process and make the TC the tribunal obligated to hear it. The ruling draws a distinction between a judge finding a matter outside their jurisdiction and that judge then altering the procedural path set for turning to another court.
The Constitutional Court said the power granted to judges and courts to assess their own jurisdiction does not amount to a channel that lets them modify powers assigned to other bodies. It went further regarding how it had received the file, saying no jurisdictional body in the country has the authority to turn the Constitutional Court, through a decision of incompetence, into a court of referral or re-referral.
Origin of the polling dispute
The Central Electoral Board is the body that organizes and oversees elections in the Dominican Republic and regulates matters such as polling firms. Its Resolution 14-2026, issued on May 22, 2026, set the rules for registering polling firms and for publishing election polls.
Justice Without Borders challenged several of those provisions, including restrictions on publishing or broadcasting polls outside the formal pre-campaign period. The organization argued the rules violated constitutional and electoral norms as well as rights tied to freedom of expression, access to political information and democratic pluralism. It also asked for a provisional suspension of the challenged provisions while the case was being reviewed.
The TSE did not examine those arguments. It declared itself incompetent and forwarded the file to the Constitutional Court, which found that the referral did not amount to a valid claim on its jurisdiction. The court explained that a direct action of unconstitutionality follows a specific procedure set out in the Constitution and Law 137-11, and cannot be started before the Constitutional Court simply by sending over a file.
Powers cannot be transferred between courts
The Constitutional Court recalled that its own powers are set by the Constitution and the law, and that other tribunals cannot expand or change those powers through their own rulings. It found that the TSE should have limited itself to declaring its incompetence, without turning that finding into a mechanism for referring the process to the TC.
Divided vote among judges
The decision was adopted by majority. Judges Miguel Valera Montero and Alba Luisa Beard Marcos reserved their votes, while Manuel Ulises Bonnelly Vega and Maria del Carmen Santana de Cabrera did not take part in the deliberation.
The underlying dispute over whether the JCE's rules on publishing polls are constitutional remains undecided. The Constitutional Court's ruling addressed only the procedure the TSE used to try to send it the case, not the merits of the poll regulation itself.
