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General News    H2'ed 12/8/10

Presidential Candidate Martelly and US Embassy Voice Concerns About Vote Tampering in Haiti

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In the last hour, Michel Martelly, candidate for the Presidency of Haiti, broadcasted a statement to the citizens of Haiti regarding what many suspect are falsified results by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP).

 

My fellow citizens,

I respectfully salute all of you from everywhere.Since last night, the CEP put our country in total chaos by publishing manipulated results. Since then, the whole country reacted and is now in turmoil. They stood up to defend their votes and asked that they be respected. Neither the international community, the CNO, the economic forum nor the observers declare the results to be falsified and not reflecting the people's choice. I understand your frustration. You have the constitutional right to peacefully protest. I'm asking of you to be vigilant, watch for infiltrations, do not respond to provocations to avoid being blamed for other people's actions. Watch to your left , watch to your right . I am with you and will be all the way to victory. "Tet kale"

Michel Martelly

Republic of Haiti Presidential candidate

In a press release issued late last night, the US Embassy in Haiti also cast serious doubt on the preliminary results of ballot counts in the November 28 National Election-- an election already fraught with accusations of ballot tampering, fraud, intimidation and outright theft.

Like others, the Government of the United States is concerned by the Provisional Electoral Council's [CEP] announcement of preliminary results from the November 28 national elections that are inconsistent with the published results of the National Election Observation Council (CNO), which had more than 5,500 observers and observed the vote count in 1,600 voting centers nationwide, election-day observations by official U.S. observers accredited by the CEP, and vote counts observed around the country by numerous domestic and international observers.

The impetus for this unprecedented statement is obvious.

Polling and leaked results had indicated a surprise in which the Preval government's choice, Jude Celestin, had been reduced to third place behind a grandmother and a popular, flamboyant musician. All polling had indicated that 70-year-old Mirlande H. Manigat, a former parliamentarian, Sorbonne graduate and the wife of a past president, along with businessman and musician Michel "Sweet Mickey" Martelly (49) had surged in a crowded field. This was a spectacular overturn of a campaign that, according to observers, had used every trick in the book to ensure that Celestin won the election.

The popularity of Manigat and Martelly was supported in preliminary estimates by the National Election Council (CNO), a watchdog group financed by the European Union. Polling of voters showed former first lady Manigat had 30 percent of the vote, Martelly 25 percent and Celestin only 20 percent. CNO's unofficial estimate was based on data from 15 percent of polling stations. It was this estimate that prompted a response from the US Embassy.

However, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced last night that former first lady Manigat won 31% of the vote and Celestin 22%. Martelly polled just over 21% -- about 6,800 votes short of Celestin, less than 1 percent.

You can watch the results here:

The translation can be found here.

Final results have been promised by December 20.

We had the opportunity to speak with Michel Martelly by phone from Haiti on Monday evening. Martelly predicted that the CEP would indeed juggle the numbers to ensure that the government's choice, Celestin, would be in the runoff.

There is a crisis right now in Haiti and everyone is aware of it. Anyone who is following the election knows exactly what is going on, and it is not a number problem. They (CEP) know exactly what has been done; they know the results already. The fact of the matter is the government is trying to modify the numbers. They do not want to lose because of their interests. We are calling for a correct result tomorrow. The people have voted, and we call for the international community to keep a close eye on the result....

Was this preliminary sour grapes, or does it reflect the reality of this election in Haiti?

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Georgianne Nienaber is an investigative environmental and political writer. She lives in rural northern Minnesota and South Florida. Her articles have appeared in The Society of Professional Journalists' Online Quill Magazine, the Huffington (more...)
 

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