24886: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti starts registration for autumn vote (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 25 (Reuters) - Haitian officials launched
a voter registration drive on Monday for autumn elections to replace an
interim government appointed 14 months ago, after a violent rebellion and
foreign pressure forced out the country's last elected president.
     Election officials said registration was started in the northern city
of Gonaives, outside the violence-plagued capital, Port-au-Prince, to
bypass security risks.
     Neither the interim government nor U.N. peacekeepers has been able to
ensure stability in Haiti since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was
driven from office in Feb. 2004 by a bloody rebellion by armed gangs and
former soldiers and U.S. and French pressure to quit.
     Balloting to choose local government officials is to be held on Oct.
9. Legislative and presidential elections are scheduled for Nov. 13, with a
run-off set for Dec. 18.
     "The launching of voter registration today marks a decisive step
toward organizing free and fair elections by the end of the year," said Max
Mathurin, president of Haiti's nine-member electoral council.
     A growing number of politicians and others involved in the electoral
process have expressed concern about precarious security in the troubled
Caribbean nation, the poorest country in the Americas, where at least 675
people have been killed in gang and political violence since September.
     "There is no doubt as to our determination to organize these elections
as scheduled, but one thing we don't control is security," said Rosemond
Pradel, the secretary-general for the electoral council. "All will depend
on that."
     The interim authorities and U.N. officials have promised to boost
security efforts as the votes draw near.
     An estimated 4.2 million of Haiti's 8 million people are expected to
secure a National Identity Card, which will allow them to cast a vote.