27546: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Elections (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 7 (AP) -- Election workers counted ballots into the
night as Haitians anxiously awaited the results of presidential elections
that officials hailed as a success despite delays that caused many polls to
open late.
   A massive turnout all but overwhelmed electoral officials, who said
early results would not be available until late Wednesday. Many Haitians
voted by candlelight Tuesday night after spending hours in lines stretching
up to a mile at some polling stations.
   Many stations opened late, lacking the necessary workers, security and
ballots to handle the crush of voters who turned out by foot, car and
brightly colored buses.
   Outside the gang-controlled Cite Soleil slum, frustrated voters pounded
on empty ballot boxes and chanted, "It's time for Cite Soleil to vote!" In
one rural town, a Haitian policeman shot and killed a man in line at a
polling station; a mob then killed the officer, a U.N. spokesman said.
   But officials called the election a step toward democracy in the
destitute Caribbean country, saying the heavy turnout showed Haitians felt
safe despite warnings that chronic violence would keep voters away. At
least four deaths were reported, but authorities said the balloting was
largely free of violence.
   Jose Miguel Insulza, head of the Organization of American States, said
"a large majority of the Haitian population voted," although no specific
numbers were available.
   "We will have a democratic government ... that this country has fought
so long and hard to have," Insulza told reporters.
   Acting U.S. Ambassador Timothy Carney applauded Haitians for stepping up
to determine their future.
   "Today was a triumph for the Haitian people," he said. "It was a ragged
start. The Haitian people turned out in force, clearly believing security
was in place. They made it work. They waited in line patiently."
   The elections, held under the watch of a 9,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping
force, were deemed vital to averting a political and economic meltdown in
the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Rene Preval, a 63-year-old
agronomist who led Haiti from 1996-2001, was the front-runner among 33
presidential candidates.
   If no candidate wins a majority, the top two vote-getters will face off
in a March 19 runoff. Full results were expected later in the week.
   By nightfall Tuesday, hundreds of people were still lined up at a
polling station near Cite Soleil, waiting for a chance to cast their
ballots.
   Among them was Rene Valmay, a 25-year-old voting in his first election.
He arrived to vote at 6 a.m. but left when his polling station had failed
to open more than three hours after the election's official start.
   "It was crazy but I had to come back and vote," Valmay said as fellow
voters scribbled on ballots under the flicker of candles. "Hopefully,
tomorrow I'll wake up and there will be a change in Haiti."
   Voters clutching new electoral ID cards jostled and shouted for ballots.
Some fainted and were carried away.
   "People were yelling and screaming to get inside the voting booths,"
said Mona Joseph, 21, one of the last people to vote. She had to go to
several different polling centers in the capital of Port-au-Prince before
finding her name on the voter registry.
   Election officials extended voting by several hours to ensure those who
wanted to vote could. The election has been postponed four times since
October.
   The stakes were huge -- more than simply who will lead the country and
who will occupy seats in parliament. Haiti, which has seen only one
president complete his term in office, could implode if the elections go
wrong, experts say.
   In the aftermath of a February 2004 rebellion that toppled President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, gangs have gone on a kidnapping spree and the
country's few factories are closing because of security problems and a lack
of foreign investment.
   U.S. officials have warned that a collapse could trigger another wave of
Haitians migrating aboard boats to the United States. That occurred in
1994, prompting Washington to send troops to Haiti to restore Aristide to
power, three years after he fell to a military coup.
   In the northern town of Gros Morne, a Haitian policeman shot and killed
a man in line at a polling station, Wimhurst said. A mob then killed the
police officer, he said. There were two other reported deaths in polling
stations in the capital -- two elderly men who collapsed while waiting in
line.
   Preval -- who has the backing of many supporters of Aristide -- said if
he wins, Haitians must recognize their country is in dire straits and
should not set their expectations too high.
   "We will not be able to do everything right away," he said. "But we are
determined to do our best and raise the standard of living for the people
of Haiti."
   Other top contenders were Charles Henri Baker, 50, whose family runs
factories that assemble clothing for export, and Leslie Manigat, 75, who
was president for five months in 1988 until the army ousted him.
   ------
   Associated Press writers Joseph B. Frazier in Marmelade and Michael
Norton in Port-au-Prince contributed to this report.