# 1978 Dominican Republic general election

General elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 16 May 1978. Following diplomatic pressure from American President Jimmy Carter, the elections were free and competitive and contested by all political parties, unlike the previous elections in the 1970s. Antonio Guzmán Fernández won the presidential election, whilst his Dominican Revolutionary Party (which had not contested the 1970 and 1974 elections) won the Congressional elections. Voter turnout was 76%.
When counting showed an unmistakable trend toward Guzmán, the Army attempted to stage a coup in favor of incumbent Joaquín Balaguer. However, when the army tried to interrupt the vote count, it was forced to back down amid protests at home and strong pressure from abroad. The final count showed Balaguer had suffered the first defeat of his career, losing by almost 10 points. Although Guzmán was allowed to assume the presidency, the Central Elections Authority redistributed the uncast votes equally between the PRD and the Reformist Party, diminishing the PRD's majority in Congress.
Guzmán's swearing-in on 16 August marked the first time in the country's history that a sitting government had peacefully surrendered power to an elected member of the opposition.

## Results
### President

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Antonio Guzmán Fernández | Dominican Revolutionary Party | 866,912 | 52.36 |
| | Joaquín Balaguer | Reformist Party | 711,878 | 42.99 |
| | Francisco Augusto Lora | Movement of Democratic Integration | 27,095 | 1.64 |
| | Juan Bosch | Dominican Liberation Party | 18,375 | 1.11 |
| | Narciso Isa Conde [es] | Dominican Communist Party | 9,828 | 0.59 |
| | Alfonso Lockward | Social Christian Revolutionary Party | 7,981 | 0.48 |
| | Luis Julián Pérez | National Salvation Movement | 7,782 | 0.47 |
| | Luis Homero Lajara Burgos [es] | People's Democratic Party | 5,956 | 0.36 |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,655,807 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,655,807 | 95.09 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 85,530 | 4.91 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,741,337 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,283,784 | 76.25 |
| Source: Nohlen |||||

### Congress

Seats :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | House | +/– | Senate | +/– |
| | Dominican Revolutionary Party | 838,973 | 50.98 | 48 | New | 16 | New |
| | Reformist Party | 692,146 | 42.06 | 43 | –32 | 11 | –12 |
| | Dominican Liberation Party | 18,565 | 1.13 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Movement of Democratic Integration | 13,317 | 0.81 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | National Civic Union [es] | 13,316 | 0.81 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Social Christian Revolutionary Party | 11,094 | 0.67 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Social Democratic Alliance | 11,056 | 0.67 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Dominican Communist Party | 10,751 | 0.65 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Movement of National Reconciliation | 7,743 | 0.47 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | National Salvation Movement | 7,727 | 0.47 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Democratic Quisqueyano Party | 5,984 | 0.36 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | People's Democratic Party | 5,667 | 0.34 | 0 | –3 | 0 | 0 |
| | Revolutionary Movement of the People | 3,867 | 0.23 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Independent Provincial Union Movement | 1,998 | 0.12 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Justicialist Popular Movement | 1,649 | 0.10 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Santuagúes Restoration Movement | 1,428 | 0.09 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Municipal Movement of the People | 284 | 0.02 | 0 | –1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 1,645,565 | 100.00 | 91 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,645,565 | 95.06 | | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 85,530 | 4.94 | | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 1,731,095 | 100.00 | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,283,784 | 75.80 | | | | |
| Source: Nohlen, Campillo Pérez ||||||||