Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05PORTAUPRINCE3005
2005-12-07 20:02:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

HAITIAN ID DISTRIBUTION UNDERWAY BUT HAPHAZARD

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM HA 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 003005 

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: HAITIAN ID DISTRIBUTION UNDERWAY BUT HAPHAZARD


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 003005

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: HAITIAN ID DISTRIBUTION UNDERWAY BUT HAPHAZARD



1. Summary: Following many delays, MINUSTAH, the OAS, and the
Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) began distributing ID
cards throughout Haiti December 2. The OAS plans to
distribute all 3.5 million cards by December 31, but the
process has started slowly and faced several obstacles.
MINUSTAH said cards were being distributed at one center in
Saint-Marc without a list assigning voters to their voting
centers, but the OAS claims all the voters from that
distribution center will vote in a single voting center.
Distribution at large centers is chaotic. Because the OAS,
MINUSTAH and CEP never created procedures for distributing
cards, different centers use different techniques of varying
efficiency. There is growing concern among Haitians and
members of the international community observing the process
that card distribution will not be completed before the first
round on January 8, 2006. End Summary.

Delayed Distribution Started December 2
--------------


2. After many logistical and technical delays that forced
them to redesign the card-distribution plan, the OAS and
MINUSTAH began December 2 to distribute ID cards throughout
Haiti. Under the new plan, instead of distributing cards
from voting centers, which would have forced anyone picking
up their card to find out where to vote, the OAS is passing
out cards at former registration centers. Workers place a
sticker on the back of each card and hand-write the location
of each voter's voting center. Because of delays receiving
the stickers, the first registration centers opened in rural
areas with only one voting center December 2. On December 4,
the OAS used 100,000 stickers purchased locally to open four
large distribution centers in Port-au-Prince. OAS elections
chief Elizabeth Spehar reported that 1.5 million stickers
arrived December 5 and that all distribution centers would be
open on or shortly after December 8.

OAS: Slow Start does not Jeopardize December 31 Finish
-------------- --------------


3. Spehar said the OAS could distribute almost all the 3.5
million ID cards by December 31, but distribution has been
slow thus far. In order to distribute all the ID cards by

the end of December, the OAS will have to distribute an
average of 140,000 cards per day for the next 25 days, which
Spehar says means distributors must average a maximum of four
minutes per card. However, because the registration
facilities vary widely in their ability to accommodate
crowds, the OAS has given its employees flexibility
organizing distribution. As a result, the process has
started slowly and the OAS is not yet achieving its
distribution goals.

Problems in Saint-Marc
--------------


4. The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) and MINUSTAH
report that in Saint-Marc, a small town 45 miles north west
of Port-au-Prince, ID card distribution began without a list
assigning voters to their voting centers. MINUSTAH elections
officials said that though voters are assigned to voting
sites, the information was not delivered to the offices
distributing cards. MINUSTAH field reports indicated that
some areas in Grand-Anse might suffer from the same problem.
The OAS insists that all of the voters receiving cards at the
distribution center in question were assigned to the same
voting center, so the distribution workers did not need a
list. OAS staff report that the problem was that the voting
center in question has four buildings, and the OAS staff
distributing cards could not tell voters which building they
should go to. They said that on election day it would be
easy for voters to find their voting site because they will
arrange the voting sites within the center alphabetically.


Large Centers Disorganized Inside and Out
--------------


5. The distribution process at large distribution centers is
disorganized and chaotic. At Place Jeremie, just south of
downtown Port-au-Prince, Poloff observed a crowd of 300
Haitians waiting in a disorderly line to pick up their cards.
(Note: The media reported that an elderly woman died of
asphyxiation while attempting to retrieve her card. End Note)
Members of the HNP (3),electoral security guards (10) and
UNPOL (1) worked to maintain calm and keep the crowd
organized. However, the situation in the hot sun was
somewhat strained; the security elements and the crowd yelled
at each other intermittently and Poloff observed two members
of the HNP using their shotguns to push back the crowd.
Though they complained about the process, registrants said
they planned to wait to get their cards and expressed hope
that the process would become smoother in the coming days.
In addition, the crowd allowed the UNOPS-trained guards, HNP,
and UNPOL to make a priority line for older and handicapped
registrants.


5. Inside the center, eight alphabetically organized tables
were piled with boxes of cards and staffed by two or three
workers each. Inside each box, the cards were grouped
together in bundles with rubber bands. When a registrant
presented his or her receipt, the workers at the table used
their last name to select one or more bundles of cards, which
they methodically sorted through. Once they found the
correct card, the workers affixed a sticker to the card and
wrote the location of the registrant's voting center. The
registrant then signed, or if they could not write, made a
fingerprint on a form indicating they had received their
card. The whole process took between two minutes thirty
seconds and twelve minutes.

Distribution Techniques Differ by Center
--------------


6. At other centers, OAS workers are using different
procedures to distribute cards. Workers at the health clinic
site at the National Palace had arranged their tables into
stations. Voters stopped at one station to pick up their
card, another to get their sticker and a final station to
sign for their card. Meanwhile, PolLES reported that at his
card distribution center, at the Prime Minister's office, he
was told that different letters of the alphabet would be
distributed on different days of the week, beginning with A,
B and C on Mondays.

Increasing Concern that the OAS will not Finish
-------------- --


7. Some members of the CEP, MINUSTAH elections officials, and
some members of the international community covering
elections are concerned that the OAS will not finish card
distribution on time, which could de-legitimize elections.
In a meeting with the Charge December 5, CEP President Max
Mathurin said he had written a letter expressing his concern
about card distribution and production to MINUSTAH elections
chief Gerard LeChevallier, which had gone unanswered. The
Charge advised Mathurin to take his concerns to the PM and
said post would similarly raise his concern with SRSG Valdes.
MINUSTAH elections officials also expressed their concern to
Poloff. They said that though the OAS plan appears
functional on paper, the OAS is not organized enough on the
ground to pull it off. Finally, a Canadian political officer
voiced her concern to Poloff and suggested a meeting between
MINUSTAH, the CEP, the OAS and some Friends of Haiti
Ambassadors to try to get the three organizations to work
together on card distribution.

December 31 Difficult to Call
--------------


8. Comment: OAS elections chief Elizabeth Spehar is well
aware that the eyes of the international community are
focused on card distribution, and that if she fails, she will
likely be publicly blamed. OAS workers are still working out
the kinks of plans for card distribution. Nonetheless, she
insists that the OAS can finish card distribution in the
allotted time without impacting the electoral calendar.

CARNEY