Haitians vote in overdue elections

All mandates for the national legislature expired in January, and President Michel Martelly has since been ruling by decree.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, August 9, 2015 (AMG) – Before the first round of legislative elections opened today, the main concern among global observers was apathy, as few voters had registered, and turnout was expected to be very low, potentially tainting the legitimacy of whatever candidates prevailed.

It’s the first election Haiti has held under President Michel Martelly, who took office in May 2011 and is in the final year of a five-year term.

Outcomes are anticipated in six to 10 days and runoffs are set for October. 25, the identical day as the primary spherical of presidential voting.

The poorest country in the Americas, Haiti suffers from a history of chronic instability and is still struggling to recover from the devastating 2010 quake.

Noting the day’s low turnout, the European Parliament said that “we must make an appeal to Haitians to exercise their right to vote, which is their voice to determine the future they want for their country once and for all”. Many voting centres didn’t open until several hours after the official 6am start time due to lack of staff or ballots not being delivered on time.

“They came, yelled that the elections had been manipulated by the government”, said Dieunel, a station worker who only gave one name, adding that the vandals threw bottles and stones.

Roughly 5.8 million people were registered to vote and over 1,850 candidates from almost 130 political parties were running.

Police and officials from Haiti’s provisional electoral council (CEP) arrived to find the schoolyard polling station littered with ballot shreds, which many residents collected as souvenirs. Results were not expected immediately.

The Caribbean nation of about 10 million people has struggled to build a stable democracy ever since the overthrow of the dictatorship of the Duvalier family, who led Haiti from 1957 to 1986, and ensuing military coups and election fraud.

In a report last Wednesday, the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) described a “climate of terror”.

“We know a real change won’t come from the sky”, said Joel Joseph, 27, after he exited his polling station.

“Haitians are going to be able to choose their representatives without fear, and this democratic process is the only way for the country to move forward”.

“We are allowing five political party representatives to be present simultaneously within the station”, said Pierre-Louis Opont, president of Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council, during a Thursday press conference. An greement was finally reached in January to hold the election before the end of the year.