Haitian Candidates Ask for Elections to Be Annulled Amid Fraud Allegations
Twelve of 18 presidential candidates called on Haiti’s electoral council to annul today’s election on fraud allegations, as some people weren’t allowed to cast ballots for a leader to spearhead the nation’s reconstruction after January’s earthquake.
Michel Martelly, a pop star-turned-candidate who is among the frontrunners, led a protest at the provisional electoral council after most of the 18 candidates released a joint statement demanding the vote be thrown out, a Martelly spokeswoman said.
Ruling party candidate Jude Celestin didn’t back calls to scrap the vote, as some opponents accused his supporters of tampering with the vote and intimidating opponents. The electoral council’s president, Gaillot Dorsinvil, denied fraud charges and reminded unregistered voters they aren’t allowed to vote, according to Radio Metropole.
Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady who led in polls in the local press ahead of the vote, alleged “massive fraud” and “unacceptable” irregularities, according to a statement on her party’s website.
Results aren’t expected until at least Dec. 7. The vote took place as the country struggles with a cholera epidemic that has killed 1,648 and hospitalized 31,210, according to the Haitian health ministry’s website. A Nov. 15 protest that left at least one dead was triggered by claims that Nepalese U.N. troops introduced the cholera outbreak.
Two Deaths
Metropole reported two deaths in a clash in the capital between rival political factions. Voting was stopped early in two northern Haitian towns on protests from voters alleging irregularities.
Many voters are among the 1.3 million still living in tent camps after they were left homeless by the quake that killed 300,000. Some complained they were turned away from polls, according to Leila Rusciani, a spokeswoman for Martelly’s campaign.
About 4.5 million Haitians were eligible to cast ballots for a new leader to replace President Rene Preval, 11 of 30 senators and all 99 parliament deputies in a vote guarded by U.N. troops.
To contact the reporter on this story: Blake Schmidt in Granada, Nicaragua at bschmidt16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net
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