27888: Hermantin(news)JEAN'S MAD DASH TO HAITIAN VOTING BOOTHS (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Sun Sentinel



JEAN'S MAD DASH TO HAITIAN VOTING BOOTHS




World Entertainment News Network

February 17, 2006



Fugees star Wyclef Jean was so determined to vote in the Haitian elections he 
broke a number of international laws and used his links to pal Angelina Jolie 
to get home to beat ballot deadlines.

The Gone 'TIL November singer played a free Fugees reunion concert in Los 
Angeles on 6 February (06) and then had a mad dash across America, through the 
Dominican Republic to his homeland so his vote would count.

He explains, "The way that I got there was crazy. No flights were going into 
Haiti... I caught a plane from California to Miami, and then caught a plane 
from Miami to the Dominican Republic.

"As I had a Haitian passport and no visa for the Dominican Republic, I thought 
some Prime Minister (official) would meet us but nobody came, so we had to 
hustle our way (to Haiti).

"We told them we were supposed to have a helicopter waiting for us to take us 
to Haiti - the same helicopter that took Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt there 
last month, so they let us through.

"We got hustled by helicopter pilots trying to sell us on their choppers. We 
then had to find a phone to get clearance on the ground in Haiti and the voting 
booths were closing at six o'clock.

"Finally we got in the chopper and we arrived in a closed airport and barely 
made it. It's one of those things I'll always remember. But I voted. You have 
to vote."

Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel