Reply #8: Haiti poll marred by ballot fraud protests (and another related vote fraud

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Haiti poll marred by ballot fraud protests

February 13 2006 at 12:32PM

By Stevenson Jacobs

Port-au-Prince - Accusations of ballot mishandling and street protests have erupted nearly a week after Haitians voted to restore democratic governance to the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Two members of Haiti's electoral council on Sunday questioned vote counting procedures, while throngs of supporters of leading presidential candidate Rene Preval poured into the streets, chanting angry allegations of fraud.

Preval, a former president widely supported by Haiti's poor masses, was falling short by less than a percentage point of winning February 7 elections outright without a runoff, with 75 percent of votes counted.

'There's a certain level of manipulation'

Electoral council member Pierre Richard Duchemin said he was being denied his rightful access to information about the tabulation process and called for an investigation.

"According to me, there's a certain level of manipulation," Duchemin told The Associated Press, adding that "there is an effort to stop people from asking questions."

MORE AT:

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=122&art_id=qw1139814361796R131


AND THIS STORY:

Results in Haiti point to likely runoff
BY LETTA TAYLER
STAFF CORRESPONDENT


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- In results that critics slammed as fraudulent, René Préval, a former president and champion of the poor who is the front-runner in key presidential elections here, appeared last night to have lost the majority he needs to avoid a runoff with his closest rival.

Thousands of enraged, slum-dwelling Préval supporters took to the streets of this capital city to blow horns and bang drums in protest as they shouted, "Préval on the first round!" Two members of the provisional electoral council overseeing the count from Tuesday's vote said they believed the results were being manipulated.

"From the beginning, Jacques Bernard was not interested in a first-round victory," renegade council member Patrick Fequière told Haitian television, referring to the council's director general. Earlier yesterday, Fequière said he believed Préval had received more than 50 percent of the vote.

Pierre Richard Duchemin, another electoral council member, told reporters he thought some other council members had "manipulated" the tally and called for an independent investigation.

A few days ago Préval, 63, was leading with nearly two-thirds of ballots in early returns, raising expectations of a first-round victory. The voting had been hailed as a landmark step toward planting democracy in the hemisphere's poorest and most troubled nation.

The electoral council abruptly postponed a news conference at a posh hotel to announce a final tally last night after protesters amassed outside. Rumors swirled that Bernard would say Préval had 49 percent of the vote, the same lead he'd shown with three-fourths of ballots counted yesterday morning.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-whait0213,0,3751860.story?coll=ny-top-headlines