#4677: Re:#4669 Fraud? (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

>From Steve White
stevelong@spyral.net

Hyppolite Pierre wrote: "how come IFES, the OAS and everyone else did
not debate the counting procedure for the senatorial races, prior to the
May 21 elections?"

Would there have been the same complaint had the results been
different?  Fraud implies deceit.  Is it the correct word to describe a
procedure which was previously known and applied before knowing the
outcome of the voting?  In the eyes of the average person, which method
is fair- the one chosen before knowing the results of the ballot, or the
one which is suggested only afterwards?  For many Haitians, the fact
that procedural complaints were issued after the fact gives the
impression that outside observers were not as impartial as they claim to
be.