Haiti: Presidential runoff elections on schedule for December 27 – Electoral Council

A late December presidential runoff – December 27 – in Haiti is expected to be held as scheduled regardless of the deep suspicion of first-round results, the executive director of the country’s electoral body said Monday.

Mosler Georges of the much-criticized Provisional Electoral Council told reporters that “everything is ready” from a technical perspective for the scheduled runoff between leading candidate Jovenel Moïse and No. 2 finisher Jude Celestin. He said the ballots have been prepared and all election workers will be paid the balance of their wages this week for staffing voting centers during the October 25 first round.

“We have been making all the preparations to follow the election calendar,” Georges said at the headquarters of the Provisional Electoral Council, known as the CEP.

Yet political analysts and opposition figures question whether runoff elections can feasibly take place on December 27, especially when one of two presidential candidates in the runoff is alleging rampant fraud and the official results for legislative races remain overdue with less than 2 weeks until the scheduled vote. Independent observers, Haitian rights groups, the religious lobby and nearly every political faction except the one led by outgoing President Michel Martelly suspect fraud in the October 25 balloting and vote-counting.

In their final results, the Provisional Electoral Council said Moise had nearly 33 percent of the vote compared to 25 percent for Celestin, a former state construction chief who was the government-backed candidate 5 years ago. Celestin has dismissed the final results as a “ridiculous farce” and alleged that the CEP was complicit in vote-rigging in favor of Moïse, an agricultural entrepreneur who was plucked from political obscurity to be the government-backed candidate.

Martelly is blocked by the constitution from running for a consecutive term. Many question whether Martelly would be pulling strings in a Moïse presidency.

On Monday, the CEP executive director described himself as merely a “technician” and said any possible changes to the electoral timetable would have to be announced directly by the body’s 9 counselors.

Georges also said that overdue final results in legislative elections will finally be announced Thursday. Those runoffs are also scheduled for December 27.

The council has brushed off the criticism and allegations of manipulating the count in favor of Moise. His Tet Kale campaign has also repeatedly denied accusations that it manipulated voting or the tally.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press