VOTING CENTERS CENTER OF CRITICISMS OF HAITIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000129 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR DRL S/CRS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) TREASURY FOR JEFFREY LEVINE E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PKAO HA SUBJECT: VOTING CENTERS CENTER OF CRITICISMS OF HAITIAN ELECTION Classified By: ADCM Jay Smith, reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Political Parties and some Provisional Electoral Council employees continue to assert there are widespread problems with voting centers. MINUSTAH and the OAS reject their claims as politically and financially motivated. They have worked throughout January to rectify voting center problems and say any remaining problems will not delegitimize results. The CEP, MINUSTAH, and OAS do admit that local elections cannot proceed with arrangements as they stand for national elections because they will need to completely re-do voting lists and voting center assignments. End Summary. OAS, MINUSTAH: National, Mayoral Elections Unaffected -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Political Parties and some employees of the CEP are stepping up their claims that there are too few voting centers, that the centers are poorly placed, and that some voters are assigned to incorrect voting centers. In a report privately passed in early January to Poloff, members of CEP President Mathurin's staff claimed that nearly a third of the electorate is affected by three kinds of voting center mix-ups. First, 14 voting centers are located in the wrong deputy district and as a result 65,300 voters will be unable to vote for their deputy candidates. Second, 30 communal sections do not have a voting center at all, which they claim affects 102,155 voters. Third, 550,000 - 750,000 voters have been assigned to the wrong voting center and many will not be able to vote for their senate and/or deputy candidates. ¶3. (SBU) Post presented all three claims to MINUSTAH and OAS elections organizers January 6. OAS elections officials argue that while some problems with voting centers are legitimate, widespread problems of the magnitude cited by Mathurin's office appear to be exaggerated. In all but a few cases, registration centers placed in a particular deputy district only registered voters from that district. The OAS directly assigned voters from most registration centers to the corresponding voting center. MINUSTAH, the OAS, and the CEP General Director have worked throughout January to fix voting center problems, but say the claims from Mathurin,s office and the political parties are mostly trumped-up charges aimed at delaying the process and do not affect national or mayoral elections. MINUSTAH reported January 13 that all significant problems with the voting centers must and would be settled by January 25 so that MINUSTAH can plan and test logistical operations prior to the February 7 first round. Voting Center Problems Huge for Local Election -------------- - ¶4. (C) The CEP, MINUSTAH, and OAS report that voting center problems gravely impact local elections for offices below the level of mayor. OAS registration differentiated between deputy and mayoral districts, but did not take local (Communal Section Assemblies (ASEC) and Communal Section Assembly Boards (CASEC)) districts into account. As a result, the voters assigned some voting sites would currently need to vote for different ASEC and CASEC representatives, which would require voters at a single voting site to fill out different ballots. The CEP DG said he would need at least six to eight weeks to sort out the voter lists before a local election could be organized. However, MINUSTAH elections officials said they believe Bernard's estimate is optimistic because the voter lists would need to be completely redone. ¶5. (C) Comment: CEP Director General Jacques Bernard PORT AU PR 00000129 002 OF 002 addressed January 19 the voting center problem in a televised interview. He will also address voting centers in a press conference planned for January 20 at the CEP (septel). Nonetheless, some within the electoral process seek to delay elections because they believe delays will benefit certain candidates and/or provide personal financial benefits. They have seized upon the voting centers as an area susceptible to difficult-to-disprove criticism. While there are likely to be some problems with voting centers in national elections, we believe the arrangements as currently planned are sufficient to allow credible national elections. End Comment. CARNEY