HAITI REGISTRATION: WELCOME SUCCESS STORY

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 002570

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
DRL
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: HAITI REGISTRATION: WELCOME SUCCESS STORY


1. Summary: According to OAS officials, 3,105,000 voters had
registered as of October 10. They project roughly 3.2
million will have registered by October 15. The registration
site in Cite Soleil, opened on October 5, is operating
smoothly and registering between 300-400 voters per day. ID
cards continue to arrive in Haiti, but the lack of
distribution sites and additional quality control checks are
slowing distribution. OAS staff hope that voting centers
will shortly open nationwide to serve as distribution points,
as originally planned. Though long-delayed and slower than
anticipated, registration can be classed as a major success.
Post will press the IGOH and political actors to build on the
success of the electoral effort to create momentum for the
campaign, and to continue to pressure Haitian elections
officials to ensure timely elections. End Summary.


2. OAS elections chief Elizabeth Spehar told Poloff that
3,105,000 voters had registered as of October 10 and
reiterated her belief that at least 3.2 million voters would
be registered by October 15, the final deadline for
registration. Spehar's estimate takes into account
incomplete reporting from remote areas due to bad weather.
Nationwide, registration averaged 10,000 per day between
September 30 and October 10, down from roughly 42,000 per day
in the last week of September. According to MINUSTAH
elections officials, registration at the new site in volatile
Cite Soleil continues without disruption. Since opening on
October 5, between 300-400 people have registered daily on
the site's six computers. MINUSTAH reports no problems with
violence or fraud, and plans to begin basing assistance
programs such as food distribution and trash pickup at the
site.


3. The OAS has received roughly 500,000 ID cards, and started
card distribution in Port-au-Prince on a small scale.
Registered voters line up daily where cards are available
based on word-of-mouth news. The OAS still plans to
distribute the bulk of ID cards through voting centers so
that voters know the location of their voting center before
election day. In order to begin distribution in urban areas,
the OAS has informally designated some urban registration
sites as voting centers even though the CEP has not
officially chosen the voting centers.


4. Comment: With the successful operation of the Cite Soleil
centers and targeted efforts to reach rural voters, the
registration effort has succeeded, both in terms of numbers
and fair and equal access to voter registration centers.
Though carried out far more slowly and with more difficulty
than anticipated, the effort ultimately succeeded because of
cooperation and flexibility between the CEP and the OAS. OAS
experts were proactive, actively challenging the CEP into
action. The CEP member responsible for registration,
Pierre-Richard Duchemin worked well with the OAS and
frequently presented his CEP colleagues with faits acompli.
If elections are to occur on time, Haitian and MINUSTAH
elections officials must adopt this model in some form. The
success of the Cite Soleil registration center also bodes
well for the prospect of orderly elections. MINUSTAH
officials negotiated directly with community leaders (most
avowed Aristide supporters) who pressed for access to the
registration process, guaranteed the safety of registration
workers and registrants, and encouraged their partisans to
register.
CARNEY