#2156: Protests in Haiti over voter registration (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:nozier@tradewind.net

Friday, 4 February, 2000, 01:07 GMT 
Protests in Haiti over voter registration 

>From the newsroom of the BBC World Service 

Demonstrators in Haiti have set up barricades in a dispute over voter
registration ahead of parliamentary elections next month. They're angry
over electoral boundaries drawn up by the authorities north of the
capital,Port-au-Prince. The protest came amid mounting international
concern over the pace of voter registration, which has been beset by
logistical problems and political unrest.  The electoral authorities say
only ten-per-cent of eligible voters have been registered.        
Correspondents say the elections are  being viewed as a test of Haiti's
 democracy after three years of political stalemate and growing    
poverty.