Haiti: Relief and Reconstruction Watch is a blog that tracks multinational aid efforts in Haiti with an eye towards ensuring they are oriented towards the needs of the Haitian people, and that aid is not used to undermine Haitians' right to self-determination.
CEPR Research Associate Jake Johnston is in Haiti observing the electoral process. To keep up with the latest news from Sunday’s election, check out the Haiti Elections Blog. Johnston filed this story for VICE News today:
After violence and fraud marred legislative elections in August, voting was significantly smoother throughout the country as Haitians went to the polls to elect a new president on Sunday. A total of 142 mayoral positions were also up for grabs, and second round elections were held for deputy and senate seats where the vote had not been cancelled in August.
“Decisions were taken to increase the security,” which led to a decrease in violent incidents, said the head of the Organization of American States observation mission, Celso Amorim, expressing his satisfaction with the process thus far. Heavily armed, masked police officers were visible throughout the day in Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince and surrounding communities.
Of 119 races for deputy, 25 had to be re-run after voting centers were ransacked or votes were thrown out due to fraud in the chaotic August vote. In three of Haiti’s ten departments, final senate results were postponed pending the outcome of the electoral reruns. But on Sunday, only 8 centers were closed, according to the government.
Haiti has had no parliament since a political crisis sparked its dissolution last January, meaning the legislative vote is crucial. Haitians are also hoping the new president can bring an end to the poverty and chaos that has plagued the country.
Prime Minister Evans Paul took to the radio in the afternoon to congratulate the police on the improvements. Criticized for passivity during the last election, the police took an active roll in maintaining order in polling centers.
Around 15,000 officers and United Nations (UN) peacekeepers were on duty, reported the BBC. The UN said 224 arrests were made, including a candidate for the lower chamber of Deputies and two Haiti National Police officers. In Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city, an individual was arrested with 73 voter ID cards.
The head of the electoral council, Pierre Louis Opont, thanked the police for learning from August’s experience. “Today the police were up to the task,” he said. Opont called on political parties to remain calm and show patience while the votes were tallied.
Bruny Watson, a voter in the Cite-Soleil neighborhood, said he didn’t vote in August “because there was too much violence,” but he was determined to cast his ballot for president on Sunday. Turnout was a paltry 18 percent in the first-round election legislative election, but Amorim cited reports from observer teams throughout the country that indicated a significantly higher turnout this time around.
US congressional representatives John Conyers (D-MI), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Frederica Wilson (D-FL) were also in Haiti to observe the vote. The US has contributed $30 million to an electoral process that is expected to cost more than $70 million.
The three were among 61 members of congress to write to Secretary of State John Kerry to “send a clear message to the Haitian government underscoring the need to guarantee the security of voters.”
“What I saw today filled me with optimism about the future of Haiti,” Rep. Conyers told VICE News. The youth of Haiti had filled the polling booths, both as workers and voters, he said, adding that the majority “approached the process with seriousness and goodwill to support the democratic process.?”
Still, problems cropped up throughout the day. Many centers were late to open and in some areas Haitians were unable to find their names on voter lists. In some cases, there simply was nowhere to vote.
In Wharf Jeremie, one of the largest polling centers in August was simply gone, leaving residents unsure of where they were supposed to vote. Building 2004, another large voting center, was also non-existent on Sunday.
In Canaan, a sprawling hillside slum home to hundreds of thousands of people, including many of those displaced from the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti nearly six years ago, voters sometimes had to travel miles to the nearest voting center.
Once again, political party monitors were a source of tension and possible fraud. At 6am a long line had already formed outside the Horace Etheard voting center in the Solino neighborhood. In Haitian elections, political parties’ representatives, called mandataires, are allowed to monitor the vote inside polling centers. More than 100 were in line jockeying for position before the doors even opened.
One monitor was arrested at the Dumersais Estime voting center. Police caught him with two passes from two different political parties. Monitors were also witnessed exchanging passes outside centers, hoping to have multiple people vote with the same pass.
In another center, a monitor was kicked out after voting three times, according to poll workers. Some were not there to monitor at all. “They paid me to be a mandataire,” one monitor from the Fusion party commented, “but I’m voting Fanmi Lavalas today,” he said, while milling about outside a voting center.
Unlike in August when the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) failed to distribute enough accreditation passes to every party and allegations of favoritism were heard throughout the day, on Sunday, monitors from a plurality of parties were present and appeared to outnumber voters at many centers in the capital, occasionally overwhelming poll workers.
Because of the additional police forces expected to be present, many observers were optimistic that election day itself would be improved from August, yet pointed out that that is not the end of the process.
“It was better than August 9, but at the same time we must be very careful when it comes to the counting of votes and what happens at the tabulation center over the coming weeks,” said Pierre Esperance of the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNNDDH). RNDDH is part of a coalition of civil society groups that had more than 1,800 observers present throughout the country.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
CEPR Research Associate Jake Johnston is in Haiti observing the electoral process. To keep up with the latest news from Sunday’s election, check out the Haiti Elections Blog. Johnston filed this story for VICE News today:
After violence and fraud marred legislative elections in August, voting was significantly smoother throughout the country as Haitians went to the polls to elect a new president on Sunday. A total of 142 mayoral positions were also up for grabs, and second round elections were held for deputy and senate seats where the vote had not been cancelled in August.
“Decisions were taken to increase the security,” which led to a decrease in violent incidents, said the head of the Organization of American States observation mission, Celso Amorim, expressing his satisfaction with the process thus far. Heavily armed, masked police officers were visible throughout the day in Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince and surrounding communities.
Of 119 races for deputy, 25 had to be re-run after voting centers were ransacked or votes were thrown out due to fraud in the chaotic August vote. In three of Haiti’s ten departments, final senate results were postponed pending the outcome of the electoral reruns. But on Sunday, only 8 centers were closed, according to the government.
Haiti has had no parliament since a political crisis sparked its dissolution last January, meaning the legislative vote is crucial. Haitians are also hoping the new president can bring an end to the poverty and chaos that has plagued the country.
Prime Minister Evans Paul took to the radio in the afternoon to congratulate the police on the improvements. Criticized for passivity during the last election, the police took an active roll in maintaining order in polling centers.
Around 15,000 officers and United Nations (UN) peacekeepers were on duty, reported the BBC. The UN said 224 arrests were made, including a candidate for the lower chamber of Deputies and two Haiti National Police officers. In Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city, an individual was arrested with 73 voter ID cards.
The head of the electoral council, Pierre Louis Opont, thanked the police for learning from August’s experience. “Today the police were up to the task,” he said. Opont called on political parties to remain calm and show patience while the votes were tallied.
Bruny Watson, a voter in the Cite-Soleil neighborhood, said he didn’t vote in August “because there was too much violence,” but he was determined to cast his ballot for president on Sunday. Turnout was a paltry 18 percent in the first-round election legislative election, but Amorim cited reports from observer teams throughout the country that indicated a significantly higher turnout this time around.
US congressional representatives John Conyers (D-MI), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Frederica Wilson (D-FL) were also in Haiti to observe the vote. The US has contributed $30 million to an electoral process that is expected to cost more than $70 million.
The three were among 61 members of congress to write to Secretary of State John Kerry to “send a clear message to the Haitian government underscoring the need to guarantee the security of voters.”
“What I saw today filled me with optimism about the future of Haiti,” Rep. Conyers told VICE News. The youth of Haiti had filled the polling booths, both as workers and voters, he said, adding that the majority “approached the process with seriousness and goodwill to support the democratic process.?”
Still, problems cropped up throughout the day. Many centers were late to open and in some areas Haitians were unable to find their names on voter lists. In some cases, there simply was nowhere to vote.
In Wharf Jeremie, one of the largest polling centers in August was simply gone, leaving residents unsure of where they were supposed to vote. Building 2004, another large voting center, was also non-existent on Sunday.
In Canaan, a sprawling hillside slum home to hundreds of thousands of people, including many of those displaced from the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti nearly six years ago, voters sometimes had to travel miles to the nearest voting center.
Once again, political party monitors were a source of tension and possible fraud. At 6am a long line had already formed outside the Horace Etheard voting center in the Solino neighborhood. In Haitian elections, political parties’ representatives, called mandataires, are allowed to monitor the vote inside polling centers. More than 100 were in line jockeying for position before the doors even opened.
One monitor was arrested at the Dumersais Estime voting center. Police caught him with two passes from two different political parties. Monitors were also witnessed exchanging passes outside centers, hoping to have multiple people vote with the same pass.
In another center, a monitor was kicked out after voting three times, according to poll workers. Some were not there to monitor at all. “They paid me to be a mandataire,” one monitor from the Fusion party commented, “but I’m voting Fanmi Lavalas today,” he said, while milling about outside a voting center.
Unlike in August when the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) failed to distribute enough accreditation passes to every party and allegations of favoritism were heard throughout the day, on Sunday, monitors from a plurality of parties were present and appeared to outnumber voters at many centers in the capital, occasionally overwhelming poll workers.
Because of the additional police forces expected to be present, many observers were optimistic that election day itself would be improved from August, yet pointed out that that is not the end of the process.
“It was better than August 9, but at the same time we must be very careful when it comes to the counting of votes and what happens at the tabulation center over the coming weeks,” said Pierre Esperance of the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNNDDH). RNDDH is part of a coalition of civil society groups that had more than 1,800 observers present throughout the country.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
Date on which first round presidential, second round legislative and mayoral elections will be held: October 25, 2015
Number of candidates for president: 54
Number of registered political parties: 128
Number of candidates for local and mayoral races: 41,000
Year in which terms expired and mayors were replaced by political appointees: 2012
Earliest date on which preliminary results are expected: November 3, 2015
Date on which presidential run-off, legislative reruns and local races will be held: December 27, 2015
Date that first-round legislative elections were held: August 9, 2015
Number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, respectively that were up for grabs in the first-round: 119 and 20
Number of candidates who were elected in the first round in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, respectively: 8 and 2
Participation rate during the first-round: 18%
Participation in the West department, home to over 40% of registered voters: 9.8%
Percent of 13,725 voting booths where no votes were counted during first-round Senate elections due to irregularities: 24.3
Number of electoral districts where first-round deputy races must be held: 25
Number of candidates sanctioned for their role in electoral disturbances: 16
Of Haiti’s 10 departments, number that did not announce first-round Senate results due to irregularities: 3
Number of departments where President Martelly’s PHTK party was involved in electoral irregularities, according to the CEP: 6
Total electoral budget: $74 million
United States contribution to electoral budget: $30 million
Amount spent on electoral campaign by Presidential candidate Eric Jean Baptiste, who is not considered a front-runner: $5 million
Maximum amount a presidential candidate is allowed to spend on the campaign, according to Haiti’s electoral decree: $2 million
Number of polling centers across the country: 1,508
Number of polling booths: 13,725
Average number of polling stations per voting center: 9.1
Accreditation badges distributed to political party monitors: 13,725
Date on which terms expired for the entire chamber of deputy’s a third of the Senate: January 12, 2015
Total registered voters: 5,871,450
Number of poll workers in October 25 elections: 41,175
Number of police deployed for October 25 elections: 10,000
Number of U.N. troops and police present: 2,502
Number of OAS observers deployed on October 25: 125
Number of observers deployed by civil society groups RNDDH, CNO and CONHANE, on October 25: 1,800
Sources: Miami Herald, Le National, Provisional Electoral Council, Haiti:Relief and Reconstruction Watch, Haiti Elections Blog
Date on which first round presidential, second round legislative and mayoral elections will be held: October 25, 2015
Number of candidates for president: 54
Number of registered political parties: 128
Number of candidates for local and mayoral races: 41,000
Year in which terms expired and mayors were replaced by political appointees: 2012
Earliest date on which preliminary results are expected: November 3, 2015
Date on which presidential run-off, legislative reruns and local races will be held: December 27, 2015
Date that first-round legislative elections were held: August 9, 2015
Number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, respectively that were up for grabs in the first-round: 119 and 20
Number of candidates who were elected in the first round in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, respectively: 8 and 2
Participation rate during the first-round: 18%
Participation in the West department, home to over 40% of registered voters: 9.8%
Percent of 13,725 voting booths where no votes were counted during first-round Senate elections due to irregularities: 24.3
Number of electoral districts where first-round deputy races must be held: 25
Number of candidates sanctioned for their role in electoral disturbances: 16
Of Haiti’s 10 departments, number that did not announce first-round Senate results due to irregularities: 3
Number of departments where President Martelly’s PHTK party was involved in electoral irregularities, according to the CEP: 6
Total electoral budget: $74 million
United States contribution to electoral budget: $30 million
Amount spent on electoral campaign by Presidential candidate Eric Jean Baptiste, who is not considered a front-runner: $5 million
Maximum amount a presidential candidate is allowed to spend on the campaign, according to Haiti’s electoral decree: $2 million
Number of polling centers across the country: 1,508
Number of polling booths: 13,725
Average number of polling stations per voting center: 9.1
Accreditation badges distributed to political party monitors: 13,725
Date on which terms expired for the entire chamber of deputy’s a third of the Senate: January 12, 2015
Total registered voters: 5,871,450
Number of poll workers in October 25 elections: 41,175
Number of police deployed for October 25 elections: 10,000
Number of U.N. troops and police present: 2,502
Number of OAS observers deployed on October 25: 125
Number of observers deployed by civil society groups RNDDH, CNO and CONHANE, on October 25: 1,800
Sources: Miami Herald, Le National, Provisional Electoral Council, Haiti:Relief and Reconstruction Watch, Haiti Elections Blog
The following is cross-posted from the Haiti Elections Blog, which was created to help promote the free access to information and accountability within the electoral process. The blog is co-managed by several non-governmental organizations who work with and within Haiti.
Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul is in Washington D.C. to participate in a panel at the Congressional Black Caucus’ (CBC) Annual Legislative Conference. According to a press release from the Prime Minister’s office, Paul will also meet with Luis Almagro of the Organization of American States and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The CBC panel will take place today (9/17) at 4:30 PM. Also speaking at the panel will be Pierre Louis Opont of the CEP, Brian Concannon from the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, Melinda Miles of Haiti SOIL as well as many others. More details can be found here.
The OAS as well as the Core Group issued statements this week expressing support for the electoral process and the holding of presidential elections on October 25. Gerardo de Icaza, the Director of the Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation at the OAS traveled to Haiti on September 14 and, according to the release, “will hold high-level meetings with the electoral authority and political actors in Port-au-Prince in support of the holding of the upcoming elections.” The head of the OAS electoral observation mission, Celso Amorim, will make a preliminary visit to Haiti on September 21. The Core Group urged all actors to ensure a successful electoral cycle and “took note” of the CEP’s commitments to address problems from the first round.
The National Front, a grouping of various political parties, has continued its mobilization against the August 9 election. The group is calling for the resignation of the head of the CEP, Pierre Louis Opont and says the elections are not possible without a credible CEP. The group sent a letter to various civil society groupings which had designated members of the CEP urging them to have their representatives resign.
The CEP has called another meeting for Friday, September 18 with political party representatives to discuss the preparations for the scheduled October 25 election. A press release from the electoral council states that change to the electoral schedule will be up for discussion. After the previous meeting between parties and the CEP last Friday, various possibilities emerged, including postponing the second round legislative elections until December 27.
The U.N. Independent Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, Gustavo Gallón, called for the CEP to clearly explain their rationale for removing Vérité’s presidential candidate, Jacky Lumarque from the race. “For the case of Jacky Lumarque, the CEP could either make public the arguments on which it relies to exclude him from the process, or re-enter his name on the list of presidential candidates for the next elections,” Gallón said. Last week Vérité announced its withdrawal from the electoral process unless significant changes to the CEP were made.
SOFA (Solidarite Fanm Ayisyèn, Solidarity of Haitian Women) issued an official statement strongly condemning election-related violence and the low-level of female political representation. In violation of the mandatory 30% female representation quota set by the Constitution and the Electoral Decree, only 23 women out of 232 senate candidates (9.9%) and 129 women out of 1621 depute candidates (8%) were able to register for August 9 elections. SOFA’s report calls on the CEP to take all measures necessary to reach the quota, including addressing the economic discrepancies facing female candidates, adopting an education campaign to encourage women to become candidates, and addressing sexism in the mostly male parliament.
The following is cross-posted from the Haiti Elections Blog, which was created to help promote the free access to information and accountability within the electoral process. The blog is co-managed by several non-governmental organizations who work with and within Haiti.
Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul is in Washington D.C. to participate in a panel at the Congressional Black Caucus’ (CBC) Annual Legislative Conference. According to a press release from the Prime Minister’s office, Paul will also meet with Luis Almagro of the Organization of American States and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The CBC panel will take place today (9/17) at 4:30 PM. Also speaking at the panel will be Pierre Louis Opont of the CEP, Brian Concannon from the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, Melinda Miles of Haiti SOIL as well as many others. More details can be found here.
The OAS as well as the Core Group issued statements this week expressing support for the electoral process and the holding of presidential elections on October 25. Gerardo de Icaza, the Director of the Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation at the OAS traveled to Haiti on September 14 and, according to the release, “will hold high-level meetings with the electoral authority and political actors in Port-au-Prince in support of the holding of the upcoming elections.” The head of the OAS electoral observation mission, Celso Amorim, will make a preliminary visit to Haiti on September 21. The Core Group urged all actors to ensure a successful electoral cycle and “took note” of the CEP’s commitments to address problems from the first round.
The National Front, a grouping of various political parties, has continued its mobilization against the August 9 election. The group is calling for the resignation of the head of the CEP, Pierre Louis Opont and says the elections are not possible without a credible CEP. The group sent a letter to various civil society groupings which had designated members of the CEP urging them to have their representatives resign.
The CEP has called another meeting for Friday, September 18 with political party representatives to discuss the preparations for the scheduled October 25 election. A press release from the electoral council states that change to the electoral schedule will be up for discussion. After the previous meeting between parties and the CEP last Friday, various possibilities emerged, including postponing the second round legislative elections until December 27.
The U.N. Independent Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, Gustavo Gallón, called for the CEP to clearly explain their rationale for removing Vérité’s presidential candidate, Jacky Lumarque from the race. “For the case of Jacky Lumarque, the CEP could either make public the arguments on which it relies to exclude him from the process, or re-enter his name on the list of presidential candidates for the next elections,” Gallón said. Last week Vérité announced its withdrawal from the electoral process unless significant changes to the CEP were made.
SOFA (Solidarite Fanm Ayisyèn, Solidarity of Haitian Women) issued an official statement strongly condemning election-related violence and the low-level of female political representation. In violation of the mandatory 30% female representation quota set by the Constitution and the Electoral Decree, only 23 women out of 232 senate candidates (9.9%) and 129 women out of 1621 depute candidates (8%) were able to register for August 9 elections. SOFA’s report calls on the CEP to take all measures necessary to reach the quota, including addressing the economic discrepancies facing female candidates, adopting an education campaign to encourage women to become candidates, and addressing sexism in the mostly male parliament.
