Polls close and officials start counting votes in Haiti's long-delayed presidential elections
Record ID:
78110
Polls close and officials start counting votes in Haiti's long-delayed presidential elections
- Title: Polls close and officials start counting votes in Haiti's long-delayed presidential elections
- Date: 20th November 2016
- Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (NOVEMBER 20, 2016) (REUTERS) OFFICIALS CLOSING DOORS OF VOTING CENTER POLICE WALKING IN VOTING CENTER PEOPLE IN VOTING CENTER FULL BALLOT BOXES MAN TAKING BALLOT OUT OF BALLOT BOX PERSON TALLYING BALLOT VARIOUS OF OFFICIAL READING OUT BALLOTS FULL BALLOT BOXES PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (NOVEMBER 20, 2016) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JUAN RAUL FERREIRA, CHIEF OF OAS ELECTORAL OBSERVATION MISSION, SAYING: "Where we have been and the areas from which our observers have reported, things are progressing normally and with a reasonable number of voters." PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (NOVEMBER 20, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) ALEXANDRE FRANTZ, VOTER, SAYING: "I can't do anything because I didn't find where to vote. I have to go back home. I am willing but, in the end, there is no possibility of voting." POLICE OFFICERS AT VOTING CENTER POLICE AND ELECTORAL GUARDS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT VOTING CENTER
- Embargoed: 5th December 2016 23:30
- Keywords: election voting observer tallying countin polls close
- Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
- City: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA0015991R2F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDIT CONTAINS VIDEO THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
Polls closed in Haiti which held a long-delayed election on Sunday (November 20) amid scenes of devastation in parts of the country, with voters hoping a new president would boost the economy after a destructive hurricane and more than a year of political instability.
First held in October 2015, the election was annulled over allegations of fraud, and a rescheduled vote was postponed last month when Hurricane Matthew struck, killing up to 1,000 people and leaving 1.4 million needing humanitarian aid.
There were a number of reports of voting fraud too on Sunday in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and preliminary results are not expected before Monday.
Nonetheless, local election observers drew a broadly positive picture of the process, with initial findings suggesting it had passed off more smoothly than last year.
"Where we have been and the areas from which our observers have reported, things are progressing normally and with a reasonable number of voters," said the Chief of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission Juan Raul Ferreira.
Homes, schools and farms across southwestern Haiti have all been scarred by Matthew, which piled fresh misery onto the nation of more than 10 million on the western half of the island of Hispaniola still recovering from a major earthquake in 2010.
Officials worried the effects of Hurricane Matthew could depress turnout in a country where democratic participation is generally low.
Polling stations closed at 4 p.m. local time (2100 GMT).
In Port-au-Prince and elsewhere, some people complained they were unable to vote because their names did not appear on lists at the polling stations, while others said that when they tried to vote they were told somebody had already done it for them.
"I can't do anything because I didn't find where to vote. I have to go back home. I am willing but, in the end, there is no possibility of voting," said Haitian Alexandre Frantz.
Electoral council president Leopold Berlanger said he was satisfied with how the day had gone. He did, however, note there had been several arrests and an attempt made to burn a polling station in the southeastern district of Marigot.
More than two dozen candidates were competing to succeed Michel Martelly, who left the presidency in February. Since then, a caretaker government has run the country.
Local opinion polls are viewed with skepticism by civil society groups, though a recent survey by pollster BRIDES made local entrepreneur Jovenel Moise the favorite to take the presidency for Martelly's Bald Heads Party in the first round.
His opponents included the onetime boss of a government construction company, Jude Celestin, former senator Moise Jean-Charles, and Maryse Narcisse, a doctor backed by ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Unless one candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote or wins by at least 25 percentage points, a second round run-off is in prospect for the top two finishers on Jan. 29. The victor is scheduled to take office in February. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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