LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN 33 DAYS: KEY TASKS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 002105 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR S/CRS SOUTHCOMALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA SUBJECT: LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN 33 DAYS: KEY TASKS PORT AU PR 00002105 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. This message describes the main logistical tasks to be done in preparation for the local, municipal and the remainder of the legislative elections on December 3. ¶2. Ballots Jacques Bernard, Director General of the Provisionary Electoral Council (CEP),reported on October 20 that ballot printing and packaging was on schedule despite earlier delays. Printing of election material began on October 11 and should be completed on November 13. The first containers with both ballots and sensitive material arrived in Port au Prince from the Dominican Republic arrived on October 16. The first containers comprised election materials for 3 departments (Grand Anse, Northwest, and North). Material for 3 additional departments (Artibonite, Northeast, and Nippes) arrived in Port au Prince on October 30 and materials for 3 additional departments, (Center, Northeast, and South) are expected to arrive on November 6. The container of electoral material for the largest department (West),with approximately 40% of the voting population, will be the last to arrive on November 13. All non-sensitive material, including ballot boxes, voting partitions, and pencils arrived on October 20th. MINUSTAH Electoral Assistance Section, responsible for the distribution and safekeeping of electoral material throughout the country, state that all containers will remain in Port au Prince until distribution to departmental capitals, beginning November 8. Non-sensitive material will then be distributed from the departmental capitals to the local areas from November 20 through November 27 while sensitive materials will be distributed between November 28 and December 02. ¶3. Voter Lists and ID Cards The OAS, which has been largely responsible for voter registration and distribution of the national ID cards, says that voter lists are complete and have been recreated based on the new electoral boundary information gathered by the CEP as well as natural voter migration. The CEP was responsible for determining the electoral boundary of the new department of Nippes, which was not done in the previous elections. (Note: The Aristide administration created the Nippes department but it was never surveyed and properly delineated in political and geographic terms. This issue was well known prior to the current election. End Note.) Redrawing the boundaries effected approximately 30,000 voters, who became a part of a different department. Voters who changed domiciles and informed their local elections office were also placed in their proper voting communities. New IDs were not distributed for those effected by the re-districting or natural migration. Voters can go to their communal electoral office (BEC) to determine their proper voting centers or visit the CEP website. Comment: Voter education is extremely important on this issue. Many electors walk great distances to exercise their right to vote. If voters are not aware of communal changes, combined with unfamiliarity of voting and lack of procedure to accommodate such a voter, frustration and tensions could be high. The Prime Minister, himself, raised this issue with the CEP, in the presence of donors and urged an education campaign. ¶4. New Voting Centers and Personnel The CEP has established 821 voting centers, and 9,231 polling stations (including the 802 centers used in the first two rounds) in the 140 communes of the 10 departments. The CEP added additional voting centers in those communal sections that did not have voting centers within their boundaries during the first two rounds. The CEP will train approximately 40,000 poll workers in PORT AU PR 00002105 002.2 OF 002 segments, beginning November 8. This training will last 2 days. The 800 members of the different local appeals offices (the BECE) have completed their training. ¶5. Campaigning and Civic Education The CEP on October 30 formally opened the campaign season, though there is little noticeable political activity. CEP President Max Mathurin in an October 5 meeting with the Ambassador expressed concern about voter participation. CEP should, however, begin a voter education campaign. The original timeline provided by the CEP indicated that civic education would begin on October 8 though it has not yet begun. The CEP claims that they plan to begin radio and television ads three weeks prior to elections. ¶6. Security MINUSTAH, with assistance from the Haitian National Police (HNP),is responsible for security. SRSG Edmond Mulet has instructed all MINUSTAH sections to give elections priority. MINUSTAH,s central and departmental coordinating authorities (JESC and DJESC) have been reactivated in preparation for December 3. Force Commander General Elito is working on final December 3 deployment plans and has said that MINUSTAH will be ready. Comment: OAS generated final ballot layouts, however, MINUSTAH EAS, informal review of the ballots reveal discrepancies in candidate names, which presented a problem in 40-50 communes. Given that local elections tended to be more personal, and thus more prone to violence, EAS indicated that these errors were more than printing errors but raised serious security concerns as impetus for local fighting. According to Carlos Currie, Deputy Director of EAS, the errors cannot be corrected and security implications of the errors are being discussed among the units of MINUSTAH. In thesQ"hot zones," security will be reinforced. ¶7. Budget The projected budget by MINUSTAH for the elections is 16.9 million USD, with only 13 million USD pledged. Canada, promising 4 million Canadian dollars (approximately 4 million USD),and the EU, promising 4 million euro (approximately 5 million USD),have not yet delivered their pledges to the UNDP. The CEP, in a meeting with the Ambassador on October 5, stated that the lack of funds was a problem and urged her to press her colleagues on this issue. Since then, Canadian funds have become available for disbursement. The GoH has agreed to loan the EU portion to the UNDP and the EU will reimburse the GoH when the funds become available. Brazil announced a $1 million pledge at the Prime Minister's October 23 meeting. TIGHE