HAITI ELECTIONS: ELECTION DAY A SUCCESS

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 000283

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR, S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
WHA/EX LEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PKAO KDEM HA
SUBJECT: HAITI ELECTIONS: ELECTION DAY A SUCCESS

REF: A. PORT-AU-PRINCE 276

B. PORT-AU-PRINCE 275

C. PORT-AU-PRINCE 266

D. PORT-AU-PRINCE 261


1. (SBU) Summary: From all accounts, Haitian Election Day
concluded successfully on February 7. Few Bureaux de vote
(BVs) opened on schedule but once voting began and after the
initial rush into the Voting Centers, the majority of the
crowds assumed orderly lines and displayed remarkable
patience with the slow and confusing voting process.
Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) President Max Mathurin
declared the elections a "success" and apologized to the
Haitian people for the early technical difficulties of
getting the BVs open and operating on time. Rene Preval
appears to have a clear lead over his nearest rival. The
entire country is calm as the tabulation process begins. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) As reported reftels, the unprecedented crowds
arrived early, as they had been counseled to do through
CEP-sponsored radio ads. Delays in the opening of most BVs
threatened to derail the process early in the day as tempers
frayed and frustration took hold. However, with few
exceptions, once the BVs became operational tensions
diminished. The promise made early in the day by the CEP
President that polls would not close until everyone had a
chance to vote was honored.


3. (SBU) Early reports name Rene Preval as the clear winner
of this first round of balloting. What remains unclear is if
he achieved 50 percent plus one to stave off a second round
challenge, scheduled for March 19. Former President Leslie
Manigat appears to be running a distant second with Charles
Henri Baker in third place.


4. (U) CEP Director General Jacques Bernard made a statement
last week that election results would be available as early
as Friday, February 10. He subsequently backtracked on that
statement by qualifying that partial results may be available
by Friday. In his statements on election day, CEP President
Mathurin stressed that the CEP was the only entity that could
announce electoral results. Neither the CEP or its Director
General have given a projection as to when any results will
be made available.


5. (U) The tabulation process is off to a slow start with
the official BV tallies, proces verbaux, trickling in to the
tabulation center. By mid-afternoon February 8, MINUSTAH
officials estimated 23 percent of the proces verbaux had
arrived at the Departmental Electoral Offices (BEDs).
MINUSTAH helicopter flights are planned to retrieve the
results from the departmental capitals for delivery to the
tabulation center in Port-au-Prince. The first such flight
is scheduled for 1800 this evening. Initial reports from the
tabulation center identified a problem with access for
accredited observers to view the review of problem proces
verbaux. Charge will investigate and urge tabulation
officials to resolve the issue appropriately.


6. (SBU) Comment: Despite early technical difficulties,
election day can be considered a success with massive voter
interest and turnout. No incidents of politically-motivated
violence have been reported. The streets of the capital
including volatile Cite Soleil are calm and the provinces are
quiet. The tabulation of the votes is likely to be a slow
and deliberate process which will need close observation to
safeguard the process. End Comment.
CARNEY