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Haiti: Voters prepare to select President, Senate and Deputies on Oct. 25
Cities and towns across Haiti are plastered with colorful campaign ads, leaving voters struggling to differentiate between the candidates on the posters, banners and billboards.
Practically every public office is up for grabs in this year’s unprecedented three-round balloting that is picking the next president, two-thirds of the Senate, the entire 119-member Chamber of Deputies and all local offices.
The first round of Haiti’s presidential vote on October 25 features no less than 54 candidates – a large number compared to the 19 contenders in the elections 5 years ago.
They are seeking to succeed President Michel Martelly, who is barred by the constitution from serving a consecutive term.
The apparent front-runner is Jude Celestin, a former state construction chief who was the government-backed presidential candidate in 2010. Disputed preliminary results then showed Celestin edging out Martelly for a spot in the runoff ballot, but under international pressure Haiti’s electoral authorities reviewed the count and eliminated him from the race.
Other major candidates include an ex-senator who has been Martelly’s most vocal critic, a Port-au-Prince lawyer and public notary, a former police chief, and the leader of the political movement founded by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a once dominant but increasingly divided party that was barred from the last election.
Spoiler candidates could include an influential sitting senator and a businessman who has made a Haitian fortune building a chain of “borlettes,” gaudily painted outlets that play on New York State Lottery numbers.
With so many candidates, no one is likely to get more than 50 percent of the vote on October 25, meaning the two leading frontrunners will face each other in a runoff on December 27.
The jam-packed presidential field is just a small share of Haitian politicians holding rallies to whip up enthusiasm, sometimes with traditional bands of drums, horns and leather tambourines. Because elections were postponed amid political gridlock during Martelly’s nearly 5-year tenure, this month’s first-round presidential contest is taking place on the same day as legislative runoff elections arising from a messy vote in August that featured more than 1,500 candidates and nearly 130 parties.
Officials will also hold re-do elections in 25 districts where irregularities plagued voting two months ago. The almost certain presidential runoff on December 27 will also see more legislative contests as well as voting for all local offices.
Vijonet Demero, secretary-general of Haiti’s frequently criticized Provisional Electoral Council, predicts the October 25 voting will be far better organized than the initial parliamentary round 2 months ago, the results of which were only recently issued. “We have learned from the mistakes of August 9th and we have been busy making all the necessary administrative changes,” Demero said at the headquarters of the council overseeing the US$69 million election process.
A major change, he said, will be greatly limiting the number of political party representatives allowed to observe at polling stations in a bid to avoid voter intimidation.
Source: Associated Press