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Preval wins election after blank ballots discovered { February 17 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c3cb40ba-9f59-11da-ba48-0000779e2340.html http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c3cb40ba-9f59-11da-ba48-0000779e2340.html Deal on ballots hands Préval victory in Haiti By Richard Lapper, Latin America Editor Published: February 17 2006 02:00 | Last updated: February 17 2006 02:00 Haiti's neighbours endorsed the presidential election victory of René Préval yesterday, easing political tensions after a week of protests in the western hemisphere's poorest country. The contest had seemed to be heading for a potentially conflictive second round after Mr Préval's vote fell slightly short of the 50 per cent plus one vote required to win last Tuesday's first round. But early on Thursday Haiti's electoral council decided, by seven votes to two, to redistribute 85,000 blank ballots and ruled that Mr Préval had therefore won outright. José Miguel Insulza, the secretary-general of the Organisation of the American States, said "we should all respect a decision" that marked a "a significant step towards building the country's future on democracy". The US administration congratulated Mr Préval on his victory. A written statement from the State Department said: "Our understanding is that the results of these elections respect Haitian laws and regulation." Mr Insulza, who arrived in Haiti yesterday, helped to broker a deal in negotiations that also involved the interim government, the head of the United Nations stabilisation mission, Juan Gabriel Valdés, and the ambassadors of the US, Brazil, Chile, Canada and France. Mr Préval's supporters from the poor slums of Port-au-Prince had demonstrated for the best part of the past five days against what they alleged was electoral fraud that appeared to deprive Mr Préval of an immediate triumph, bringing life in the capital to a virtual halt. Opposition politicians were unhappy at the electoral authorities' decision, which denied them the possibility of competing in a second-round run-off. Leslie Manigat, like Mr Préval a former president and the best-performing of more than 30 other candidates, described it as "a Machiavellian comedy". However, Mr Manigat won only 11.8 per cent of the vote and his position has been further undermined by the strength of international reaction in favour of Mr Préval. The stage is therefore set for greater political stability, after a chaotic two years following the ousting in February 2004 of Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president. Mr Préval is a former close ally of Mr Aristide but during the campaign he distanced himself from the controversial former leader. Mr Insulza said he understood that "the new president will invite his political opponents to engage in dialogue, so that together they can change Haiti's situation". By Haitian standards, Mr Préval's five years as president between 1996 and 2001 constituted a relatively settled period, with the government building roads and public squares and successfully promoting a land reform scheme in the north. An official with the United Nations stabilisation mission, which deploys 9,000 international troops and police officials in Haiti, said poorly trained electoral officials appeared to have deposited blank voting slips that had not been cast into the ballot boxes. Boxes of partially burned ballots - many of them apparently cast for Mr Préval - were found on Wednesday on rubbish tips in the capital. In addition, in some localities election officers ruled as invalid any vote that had not been marked precisely in the centre of the box printed on voting papers. In a country marked by very high illiteracy, some voters had invalidated their ballots by marking a cross over the photograph of the candidate rather than in the adjacent box. A UN official said a loophole in Haitian electoral law allowed the authorities to reapportion the very high number of blank votes. The law says simply that blank votes have to be "counted, tabulated and included" in the final result. International criticism of the voting procedures in Mr Aristide's election in 2001 severely undermined the legitimacy of Haiti's last elected government.

Death of UN leader in haiti amid instability Election official flees haiti after election { February 21 2006 } Election officials tampering with haitian vote Haiti electiion ballots discovered in dump { February 16 2006 } Leading haitain candidate results slipping during count New UN military chief in haiti vows stabilization No voting stationsfor haitis largest slum Polling stations stayed closed in haiti { February 8 2006 } Preval wins election after blank ballots discovered { February 17 2006 } Files Listed: 9

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