Haiti: Poll Fraud under Investigation

Haiti´s interim government has blocked publication of electoral results from until an inquiry into fraud allegations is completed.

After Preval, a one time ally of ousted president Jean Bertrand Aristide, voiced his denunciation, local TV showed hundreds of charred ballots at a rubbish dump in the capital.

Many of the votes appeared to be marked in favour of Preval, prompting protests from his supporters at the scene.

According to a UN mission spokesman, David Wimhurst, the ballots could have come from any of nine polling stations ransacked on election day.

Preval, the candidate of Hope, insists he won the vote, but after the first partial results indicated he had over 50 percent of the needed to be elected outright, later reports put him under 49.

His supporters claim the vote has been rigged by the Haitian elite, and some blame the US for interfering against Preval.

"We are convinced that either massive fraud or gross errors have stained the [electoral] process," Preval said last night.

He went on to say that "if they publish the results as they are now, we will oppose them, the Haitian people will also oppose them, and there will be protests."

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Reportedly, the Haiti Provisional government ordered a recount of the votes in the presidential elections held on February 7.

In his statement to American news agency Associated Press, Haiti Interior Minister Paul Magloire said, “The government wants to make sure that everything with the process is correct.”

President Boniface Alexandre’s chief adviser Michael Brunache announced the votes will be reviewed by a commission consisting of presidential candidate Rene Preval’s attorneys.

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Haiti's interim government Tuesday ordered a review of last week's election results, after the leading presidential candidate, René Préval, said he is convinced that ``massive fraud or gross errors'' marred the tallying of results.

The government's order is the first formal step to investigate possible fraud or irregularities committed during the vote and the counting process.

Préval, who was president from 1996 to 2001, urged his supporters to be patient and peaceful while he meets with electoral officials over complaints concerning the balloting.

Tuesday evening, Haitian television broadcast footage of Préval supporters pointing out what appeared to be hundreds of ballots in a garbage dump north of the capital, marked by voters and signed by poll workers, lying among ballot boxes.

In his speech earlier in the day, Préval told his supporters to avoid violence while the tabulation continues.

``You do not have the right to violate private property, block roads and loot cars,'' he said. ``The best strategy is to win the national and international communities' sympathy, to isolate extremists . . . otherwise we will lose the political battles.''

Préval said the government has agreed to sit down with representatives of his party, LESPWA, or ``hope'' in Creole, and listen to its complaints.

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