Dominican Republic’s electoral board named certifying authority for e-signatures

The Dominican Republic has taken another step towards the rollout of its new identity and electoral card, which allows citizens to access digital authentication services. The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has formally been accredited as a certifying authority for digital signatures.

The Root Certification Authority digital certificate was issued this week in a ceremony during which cryptographic electronic keys were generated. Technological security will depend on both strong regulation and a controlled environment in which systems are created and operated, JCE President Román Andrés Jáquez Liranzo said during the event, according to Dominican Today.

The Dominican Republic is conducting  a “major modernization” of its identity and electoral card (Cédula de Identidad y Electoral), which also includes updates to the Civil Registry. The cards allow real-time identity verification through mobile devices, including the Caribbean country in the global efforts to provide digital identity.

The island nation has been issuing ID cards to citizens and residents since the 1930s. Each national ID features a unique 11-digit number which is also used as a driver’s license number as well as a taxpayer identification number.

In October, the country also started issuing new-generation biometric passports, which have an embedded microchip storing facial and fingerprint biometric information. A contract for the new passports was awarded in December 2024 to a consortium of three firms.

Article Topics

digital government  |  digital ID  |  Dominican Republic  |  electronic-signature  |  government services