President Leonel Fernandez was favored to win a third term on Friday, despite concerns over long-serving politicians in this Caribbean nation with a painful history of rule by strongmen.

The former New Yorker is expected to easily capture the most ballots among 5.7 million registered voters. His main challenger _ construction magnate and former Public Works Minister Miguel Vargas _ hopes to keep him from getting more than 50 percent and force a second round.

Fernandez could become the first president to win a consecutive term since the last strongman was ousted 12 years ago. He has led the nation out of an economic crisis and oversaw major public works projects, including construction of the Caribbean’s first subway system.

But his six opponents have played on memories of former President Joaquin Balaguer, who dominated the top office for decades while jailing critics and rigging elections until Congress in 1994 finally barred sitting presidents from seeking new terms.

That restriction kept Fernandez from running for re-election after his first term from 1996 to 2000, but Congress lifted the ban in 2002 and allowed presidents to try for four more years.

Long lines formed at polling stations in the morning, but tapered off by midday.

From schools in the bustling capital to voting tables in the mountainous interior, voters in the country of 9.5 million marked ballots divided into colorful party flags.

Because candidates were listed with each political party that endorsed them, Fernandez appeared on the ballot 12 separate times. Vargas was listed four times and each of the other candidates was listed once.

Voting for Dominican citizens abroad was also planned in 17 cities in Latin America, Europe and the United States _ including New York, where Fernandez grew up.

In a country where politics is rivaled only by baseball for stirring passions, bars and liquor stores were closed Thursday night in hopes of preventing violence. But three people, including an ex-lawmaker who supported Fernandez, were killed in a northwestern province in a clash between partisans on Wednesday.

Arguments continued at the polls. Two neighbors got into an arm-waving debate just after casting their ballots.

Adamilka Castro, a 37-year-old elementary school teacher who supported Vargas, said some of her students lack shoes and get their only daily meal at school. “We need to meet our basic needs as human beings,” she said.

Rafael Saldania, her 35-year-old artist neighbor, retorted that Fernandez’s government was on the right track: “Give it four more years; things will get better.”

Both leading parties support free trade and conservative Catholic social values. Candidates also pledged to hold down food prices and reduce power blackouts with investments.

An economic crisis in the early 2000s caused banks to collapse and inflation hit 30 percent, forcing a devaluation of the peso and prompting many to flee on rickety boats to Puerto Rico and Florida in search of work.

Fernandez brought the economy under control with the help of US$695 million (euro450 million) in loans from the International Monetary Fund, but official unemployment is still nearly 16 percent and about a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the government.