Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Presidential Results

Haiti's presidential election results delayed by fraud

Fraud has forced Haiti's election council to delay results of a highly anticipated runoff intended to decide the next leader of the troubled Caribbean nation.

Results were supposed to have been announced Thursday. But the Provisional Election Council asked for four more days and will post preliminary results on Monday instead. Final results are not expected until April 16.

The agency said that "a high level of fraud and irregularities of various kinds has been detected in the tabulation of votes."

The election pitted former first lady Mirlande Manigat, 70, against bad-boy musician Michel Martelly, 50. The initial election in November ended in controversy when Jude Celestin, the government-backed candidate, placed second after Manigat.

Charges of massive vote-rigging and other irregularities surfaced, and protests erupted for days on the streets of Port-au-Prince and other cities. In January, a vote review disqualified Celestin and prompted the runoff between Manigat and Martelly. Both candidates have expressed confidence in their showing.


The rest of the article here.

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