Haiti Voting Dissolves In Chaos; Opposition Parties Claim Fraud

The election intended to bring democracy to all levels of government in Haiti unraveled further on Monday, as vote counting proceeded under questionable circumstances and Sunday’s chaotic balloting was criticized both by Haitian political leaders and by election observers.

At least 200,000 of Haiti’s 3.5 million registered voters were still waiting on Monday to cast their ballots for parliamentary, mayoral and municipal council seats, but election officials were unable to say when, if ever, that would happen. Officials acknowledged that some polling stations were still without ballots and other voting materials that should have been delivered last week.

As the pace of vote counting picked up on Monday, evidence of tallying irregularities also mounted. Downtown, the main counting center for the capital region was in utter disarray, with clusters of ballots scattered in the street and ballot boxes strewn in no apparent order throughout hallways and rooms.

Evidence from provincial areas was sketchy because of poor communications, but there were reports from election observers and Haitian radio of similar problems.

The Organization of American States, which has more than 300 observers here, warned that because of administrative failings, “it remains to be seen how effectively the count will be carried out.”

Opposition political parties were not waiting for the results to condemn what they called a pattern of vote manipulation that favored the Lavalas Political Organization, whose slate is endorsed by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Demonstrators protested here and in provincial centers, chanting that their parties were victims of “maguy,” a Creole word meaning trickery, deceit, fraud and cheating.

Leading the attack was the National Front for Change and Democracy, under whose banner Aristide became president in 1990.

At an angry news conference at party headquarters here, Evans Paul, mayor of Port-au-Prince, said he was speaking out to prevent his party’s victory from being stolen.

“There was a second election that happened” at vote counting centers said Paul, who did not offer proof of his accusations. “It has no credibility for us, and any tally sheets that do not bear all the appropriate signatures also have no validity to us.”

Another leader of the party, Sen. Turneb Delpe, complained that Lavalas supporters were seen marking unused ballots at counting centers Sunday and Monday.

Accredited American election observers from the International Republican Institute produced photographs that they said depicted the illicit ballot-marking and other violations.