27391: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti election could be worst-run ever -candidates (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Haiti's first election since
the ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide two years ago could be the most poorly
organized in the brief democratic history of the troubled Caribbean nation,
some candidates say.
     Just a week before the election, many voters do not know where they
will vote and others will have to walk miles (kilometers) to voting centers
in a country rife with gang violence and where kidnappings have terrorized
the capital, Port-au-Prince.
     Presidential candidate Paul Denis said the Feb. 7 election will be a
day of unprecedented frustration and anger for Haitian voters.
     "The interim government, supported by the international community,
chose deliberately to prevent people from voting by forcing them to walk
eight hours to reach a voting center," Denis said. "It is going to be the
worst election organized in Haiti's recent history. That's a scandal."
     Haiti is stumbling toward its first election since former president
Aristide was run out of office on Feb. 29, 2004, by an armed rebellion and
under pressure from the United States and France to quit.
     About 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers patrol the nation of 8.5 million people,
supporting a national police force that numbers about 6,000. The
peacekeepers have said they will be able to contain any security threats on
election day.
     But some members of the electoral council charged with organizing the
vote have said unresolved technical problems and a lack of voter education
will mar the vote. One member, Patrick Fequiere, said the election will be
a "big farce."
     Many of the technical issues that forced authorities to postpone the
vote from November remain. In addition to polling station problems, 20
percent of the 3.5 million registered voters have not received voter
identification cards.
     "We won't be able to fix all the problems in time for February 7. It
would take us four or six months to correct them," said Max Mathurin,
president of the electoral council.
     In a Dec. 27 report, the International Foundation for Electoral
Systems said an important number of voters were assigned to voting centers
further from their homes than necessary.
     As an example, the report said voters in the town of Verrettes had
been assigned to vote in Savanhaut, 30 miles (50 km) away. Government and
election authorities admitted the problems exist but said they will not
have time to solve them.
     "The Haitian people should prepare themselves to walk on election day.
Unfortunately that's the case, we are not going to hide it," said Justice
Minister Henri Dorlean.
     "Please, get up early and make the sacrifice for yourself and your
country," he told a local radio station.
     Authorities decided to establish larger voting centers instead of
smaller, community polling stations. Some of the large centers could
contain up to 40 polling stations. Critics say the setup could lead to
chaos, with thousands of voters scrambling through a large center, trying
to find their correct polling station.
     "You imagine 16,000 people in just one relatively small building
looking with frustration for a polling station and a list where their names
could be found," said Himler Rebu, a presidential candidate. "It's going to
be a real mess."
     Many voters cannot identify their voting center because the electoral
council did not provide addresses. Authorities said they took the measure
for security reasons.
     "When you have to walk six miles (10 km) to reach a voting center in a
place you're not familiar with, you run a greater security risk," said Dr.
Yves Cadet, a security expert. "It would have been much safer for voters to
vote in their neighborhoods where they feel more confident and where
everybody knows everybody."