Voters waiting to cast ballots formed long lines as polls opened at 9 a.m. (1400
                 GMT)

                 "I woke up early to vote," said Beatriz Medina, 26, who was among those waiting.
                 "I want to feel well represented, and that's why I'm here."

                 The governing Dominican Revolutionary Party is hoping to maintain its
                 overwhelming majority in the legislature, while the opposition Dominican Liberation
                 Party and the Reformist Social Christian Party are looking to increase their share of
                 seats.

                 Candidates from the governing party point to the country's economic gains while
                 Liberation Party candidates rally supporters by promising to reform laws to combat
                 growing unemployment and poverty.

                 Seats include 32 Senate posts, 150 House of Representatives slots and 125
                 municipal posts, which include mayoral posts.

                 The country's middle class has traditionally backed the governing party, while the
                 Liberation Party has a larger backing from the poor. The Reformist Party, led by
                 former President Joaquin Balaguer, is backed by right-leaning sectors and older
                 voters.

                 Polls were to close at 6 p.m. (2300 GMT). President Hipolito Mejia will not vote
                 until the afternoon. Under Dominican law, women are required to vote in the
                 morning and men in the afternoon to reduce the number of people voting at one
                 time.

                 "We need to vote," said Sandra Lebron, a 30-year-old housekeeper from San
                 Cristobal, 20 kilometers (13 miles) northwest of Santo Domingo. "With the
                 Liberation Party at least I can see some of the things they do, but with the
                 governing party I can't see anything."

                 This will be the first year voters will elect 32 senators rather than the 30 elected i n
                 1998 after officials created two new seats by dividing the voting district of Santo
                 Domingo, the capital.

                 This is also the first election in which Dominican voters will be able to choose
                 individual candidates for the House of Representatives. Previously, people would
                 vote for parties, who in turn would nominate candidates.

                 The governing party now holds the majority in both houses of Congress, with 19
                 Senate seats and 66 seats in the House. The Liberation Party is the largest in
                 opposition, with four Senate seats and 49 seats in the House. The Reformist Party
                 has 17 seats in the House and two in the Senate, while smaller parties hold the
                 remainder.

                 Santo Domingo's vote -- considered a barometer for the rest of the country -- is
                 locked in a tie between the governing party and the Liberation Party, according to
                 the latest poll.

                 The Hamilton, Beattie & Staff poll, published by the Dominican daily Hoy
                 newspaper, said the Liberation Party has 35 percent, while the governing party has
                 32 percent.

                 The poll, conducted among 504 people between April 30 and May 3, has a margin
                 of error of 4.5 percentage points. The Reformist Party weighed in with 17 percent
                 while other parties won 7 percent, and undecided with 9 percent.

                 In March, parties had to present a list of candidates they had nominated to the
                 Central Electoral Committee. A new electoral reform instituted a quota requiring
                 that at least 33 percent of the candidates be women.

                 More than 100 international observers, led by a nine-person team from the
                 Organization of American States, are already in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean
                 country.

                 The OAS mission director, Colombian Diego Paz, called election preparations
                 "impeccable."

                  Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.