FW: Preval declared President

Very interesting developments.

We are happy about a decision that will hopefully curtail mass protest, but
at the same time, we¹re a bit confused by the process.

Matt and Esther

16 February 2006
Elections 2006 : a decision rendered

Posté le 16 février 2006

At 3:00 am this morning, the CEP announced that following an adjustment of
the ballot counting, Rene Preval of the Lespwa party is the newly elected
president of Haiti, with 51.15% of the vote as calculated. The results
announced were based on a decision (ultimately a proposition made by Brazil)
to divide the blank ballots between all of the presidential candidates
according to the percentage of valid votes counted. Such actions are not
provided for in any of the legal documents concerning the electoral process.

The UN mission was ultimately responsible for providing security for the
ballots and other electoral material. The recently exposed scandal involving
the discarding of electoral material created serious problems for MINUSTAH
and for the international community as accusations of fraud abound, further
tainting a mission that is already plagued by hostile accusations and
general mistrust on the part of the population.

Clearly Preval is the choice of the people, and RNDDH is of the belief that
he would have won the election even if a second round had been called. Many
of the other presidential candidates indicated that their parties would
support Preval's Lespwa in the event of a second round. To resort to the
tactics as used by the CEP is an embarrassment for the country and its
people who came out in massive numbers to democratically elect a president
on 7 February 2006 - a day which will be remembered with pride in the minds
of the Haitian people. While it is true that chosing to divide the blank
ballots has seemingly averted additional crisis and potential violence, the
action taken has no legal basis. As Haiti struggles to find the road leading
to democracy and the Rule of Law, it is imperative that the voice of the
people be heard and be respected. Furthermore, fundamental human rights must
be promoted, protected, and defended, and the law upheld.

RNDDH will continue to monitor and analyse the situation in the coming days
and weeks. A full report on RNDDH's analysis of the electoral process will
be published in the next few days.

*********************************************************
Kristie van de Wetering
Human Rights Program Officer

Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH)
9, Rue Rivière
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Tel: 509.245.3486 / 245.5821 / 244.1495
Fax: 509.244.4146
Email: kvwetering@rnddh.org
kotchka19@hotmail.com
www.rnddh.org <http://www.rnddh.org>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>
> Subject: Discarded Electoral Material Found in Dump: RNDDH's preliminary
> investigation results
>
>
>
>
>
> Haiti Situation Update #3 ­ Discarded Electoral Material Found in Dump:
> RNDDH¹s preliminary investigation results
>
> Afternoon of 15 February 2006
>
>
>
> As reported earlier, last evening Haitian television channels showed images
> of discarded voting ballots in piles of burning garbage just north of
> Port-au-Prince. An RNDDH and POHDH delegation went to the area this morning
> to gather information.
>
>
>
> The RNDDH/POHDH delegation was able to confirm the existence of several
> hundreds of ballots that had been discarded in the dump. According to
> individuals living in the area, once the trash was dumped, a bulldozer was
> used to cover it and children were told not to play in the piles as the waste
> was toxic. When RNDDH arrived, the electoral materials were visible;
> however, the majority of what was dumped is still allegedly under heaps of
> garbage. The delegation documented the presence of destroyed ballot boxes,
> at least one completed form on the opening of a particular voting office
> (procès verbal), at least one page of a list of registered candidates
> (complete with signatures), as well as several ballots (presidential,
> senatorial, and deputy ballots).
>
>
>
> Of these ballots, there were: void ballots (bulletin nul) meaning that there
> was more than 1 choice indicated when only 1 was permitted and/or the ballot
> was not signed by members of the voting office*; blank ballots (bulletin
> blanc) that were signed but with no choice indicated; valid ballots that
> were both signed and indicated the appropriate number of choices; and finally
> unused ballots that were neither signed or marked with a vote. The majority
> of the ballots seen were valid ballots and unused ballots. The ballots
> documented by the delegation came from voting offices in Thomazeau (northeast
> of Port-au-Prince), Carrefour, Martissant, Léogâne, and Kenscoff (all towns in
> the West department).
>
>
>
> This morning the UN spokesperson, Mr. David Wimhurst, made a press statement
> regarding the dumped ballots. He indicated that during Election Day, 9
> voting centers (centers** not voting offices) had been vandalized. He
> suspected that the ballots found at the dump must be ballots from these
> centers/offices. According to his statement, the centers in question were as
> follows: 4 centers in the Artibonite, 4 centers in the Northwest, and 1
> center in Nippes . However, these areas cited do not correspond with the
> ballots that the RNDDH/POHDH delegation saw at the dump, all which came from
> offices in the West department. When asked how these ballots would have
> ended up in the dump, Mr. Wimhurst only replied by saying that each of these
> areas is ³only one-hour away². No further explanation or clarification was
> provided.
>
>
>
> In response, the President of the CEP, Mr. Max Mathurin, made a statement to
> the press further complicating matters. According to Mr. Mathurin, he was
> not aware that 9 centers in the aforementioned departments had been
> vandalized. In these instances, an incident report must be prepared and
> distributed appropriately. He claimed that while perhaps reports were
> provided to other members of the CEP, as president of the CEP he had not
> received or seen any reports written about these incidents. Additionally, no
> reports concerning such incidents had been submitted by the respective
> Departmental Electoral Offices (BED). Mr. Mathurin indicated that if such
> incidents had been reported, the CEP would have informed the population.
>
>
>
> As of this afternoon, this is what can be reported. Further updates to
> follow.
>
>
>
> Pierre Esperance
>
> Executive Director
>
> RNDDH
>
>
>
> * NB: The president and vice president of each voting office was required
> to sign each ballot and note the number of the voting office. This was to be
> completed prior to opening the office for voting, however, in many cases, the
> ballots were signed throughout the day as people voted. RNDDH observers
> noted in at least one voting office in the Port-au-Prince area that a decision
> was made NOT to sign the ballots as this was taking too much time.
>
>
>
> ** NB: Recall that each voting center contained a series of individual
> voting offices
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *********************************************************
> Kristie van de Wetering
> Human Rights Program Officer
>
>
>
> Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH)
> 9, Rue Rivière
> Port-au-Prince, Haiti
> Tel: 509.245.3486 / 245.5821 / 244.1495
> Fax: 509.244.4146
> Email: kvwetering@rnddh.org
> kotchka19@hotmail.com
> www.rnddh.org <http://www.rnddh.org>
>
>>

------ End of Forwarded Message