27808: Beckett [news/question] BBC Haiti bars release of poll results (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

FROM: Greg Beckett  <beckett@uchicago.edu>

The BBC reported today that some of the ballots found  burned in the PauP dump 
were marked for Preval. Do other stories confirm this? I couldn't make out that 
level of detail in the photos available online.

Also: The BBC article (below) states: "According to a UN spokesman, the ballots 
could have come from any of
nine polling stations ransacked on election day."

Does anyone on the list have details of those nine polling stations? Where were 
they? What happened there? Any official statements from the Interim Govt, the 
OAS, or election observers on that? How many votes may have been stolen or 
destroyed, if any?

Thanks,
Greg

Here's the story from the BBC:


Haiti news

BBC News
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4713802.stm>

February 15, 2006

Haiti bars release of poll result

Haiti's interim government has blocked publication of results from
last week's presidential election until an inquiry into fraud
allegations is completed.

Front-runner Rene Preval said "massive fraud" had probably denied him
an outright victory in the vote.

He warned of more protests if partial results - which would require a
run-off if confirmed - were published as final.

On Tuesday night, local TV showed what appeared to be hundreds of
charred votes at a rubbish dump in the capital.

Many of the ballots appeared to be marked in favour of Mr Preval,
prompting protests from his supporters at the scene.

Crowds later marched through the streets of the city, chanting Mr
Preval's name and denouncing the alleged fraud.

According to a UN spokesman, the ballots could have come from any of
nine polling stations ransacked on election day.

Spokesman David Wimhurst said the ballots may have been placed at the
dump to suggest fraud had taken place, the Associated Press news
agency reports.

The leader of the Organization of American States is due to visit
Haiti on Wednesday to try to calm tensions.

Jose Miguel Insulza is expected to meet political leaders and members
of the electoral commission.

The unrest in the country has led to the cancellation of commercial flights.

Former South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who spent four days in
Haiti, was airlifted to the Dominican Republic in a military
helicopter.

Street protests

Mr Preval was once an ally of ousted former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide and has inherited his following among the poor.

He insists he has won the vote but partial results suggest he is just
short of the 50% needed to be elected outright.

His supporters allege the vote has been rigged by the Haitian elite,
which is suspicious of Mr Preval's links to Mr Aristide.

"We are convinced that either massive fraud or gross errors stain the
[electoral] process," Mr Preval said on Tuesday, in his first public
comments since the protests began.

He urged his supporters to continue demonstrating "but in respect of
the rights of others".

"If they publish the results as they are now," Mr Preval said, "we
will oppose them, the Haitian people will also oppose them, and there
will be protests."

Following his comments, the government announced it would hold an
inquiry into the fraud allegations.

The interim president's chief of staff is quoted as saying he expects
the investigation, which will include members of the government,
electoral commission and Mr Preval's party, to release its findings
within three days.

"The government will play the role of referee in this commission,"
Michel Brunach told the AFP news agency.

Haiti - the poorest country in the Americas - is choosing a
129-member parliament as well as a new president.

Burning tyres

BBC Americas analyst Simon Watts, reporting from Miami, says the
Haitian authorities seem to be damned whatever they do.

He says they risk sparking more unrest if they conclude Mr Preval is
short of a majority - but declaring him an outright winner could look
like a fix.

On Tuesday, barricades of burning tyres and branches remained on
roads in Port-au-Prince.

The UN Security Council has renewed the mandate of its peacekeeping
force in Haiti for at least another six months.

The 9,500-strong mission, established in 2004 after President
Aristide was forced out of power, is under Brazilian command.


Copyright © BBC MMVI.