Tuesday
Nov302010
Preliminary Observations on Haiti’s November 28th Elections
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 08:00PM
A coalition of human rights observers, justice advocates and U.S.-based analysts collaborated with a team of Haitian community mobilizers and journalists to carry out independent monitoring of Haiti’s electoral process and Election Day activities. Amidst an ongoing humanitarian emergency crisis with over 1.5 million people internally displaced and a raging cholera epidemic, parliamentary and presidential elections were held. According to the delegation, Haiti’s democracy suffered another serious setback on Sunday as large numbers of voters were unable to cast votes, allegations of fraud were raised in many of the voting centers visited, and more than a dozen presidential candidates called for an annulment of the election Although both Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) and the OAS/CARICOM observer mission have announced their satisfaction with the election, at the end of the day most Haitians remained marginalized and were deeply unhappy with the electoral process.
Despite the huge challenges that the Haitian population is currently facing, a number of people attempted to vote in Haitis presidential and parliamentary elections Sunday only to be turned away from polling stations. Nicole Phillips from the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti reported in many locations there were more voters than ballots cast, reflecting a structural failure on the part of the authorities tasked with ensuring that internally displaced people (IDP) would be able to participate in the election.
At two of the largest and most isolated IDP camps, on site efforts to re-register voters so they could participate were insufficient and the timeline for people to change their voting location was too short. Geographically isolated with little to no income, these voters were unable to return to their previous voting stations and effectively disenfranchised. The situation facing these communities is representative of the limited assistance IDP camps thoughout Haiti face. When the voting station at Camp Corail opened on Sunday morning, only thirty-nine voters appeared on the list despite the fact that thousands of registered voters now reside in the camp. At Camp Canaan, an unofficial settlement of tens of thousands, political party observers paced an empty field where a polling station was supposed to be set up but never materialized.
However it was not only displaced earthquake survivors who were unable to cast ballots Sunday. Throughout Port-au-Prince, voters showed up at voting centers and, as they were unable to find their names on voting lists, were unable to cast their vote. In the rural village of Gros Morne, in the northern Artibonite, some elderly voters did not find their names on voting lists and were told to walk long distances to check at other polling stations. In the southern city of Jacmel, where there was significant earthquake damage but polling stations were not far apart, the Louisiana Justice Institute reported that reactions ranged from disappointment to rage. Many searched multiple locations unsuccessfully, seeking their name on any voter list but instead finding many of their deceased neighbors and family members listed.
Furthermore, there were numerous reports of fraudulent activities taking place, including ballot-box stuffing. Members of the delegation visited one voting center in which police had arrested individuals accused of inserting unauthorized ballots in ballot boxes, but in other centers no action appeared to be taken by authorities following reports of fraudulent activity.
As the day unfolded, frustration and anger began to grow among voters who were unable to vote or believed that fraud had taken place in their voting center. Early in the day, a crowd gathered at the Lycee Cite Soleil and waited for a polling station to open for hours. Observers who traveled from downtown Port-au-Prince into the suburb of Carrefour encountered growing rage as crowds of disenfranchised voters gathered outside of polling stations. Nicole Lazarre, an observer based in Port-au-Prince, experienced angry crowds who wanted to share their frustrations once she was identified as an independent observer. Young men expressed profound disappointment over being turned away, she noted, and about their frustration over the countrys repeated failures to get things right for itself.
Under intense pressure from the Haitian government and the international community, Haitis CEP rushed to hold an election in the midst of crisis on top of crisis. It is while one and a half million homeless earthquake survivors still live out in the open under tarps and bed sheets as a cholera epidemic spreads through the country, that elections were held. Alex Main from the Center for Economic and Policy Research explained: It wasnt the population that chose the moment or that demanded that elections be held now. In fact, in the tent communities we visited prior to the elections many individuals expressed outrage at the fact that elections were being held in the midst of an extreme crisis that is far from resolved.
Midway through election day, a dozen presidential candidates gathered to condemn what they called widespread fraud in the elections. However many grassroots and community-based groups, including the national peasant movement Tet Kole Ti Peyizan, never intended to participate. Citing the fact that the political parties had not presented any kind of social platform or program for the country, community based groups and grassroots networks were already sitting out what they called "an election without substance" and "a selection, not an election." Grassroots groups and medical experts also expressed concerns that the elections would actually increase the impacts of the cholera epidemic due to stymied medical supplies and public education efforts. As civil society leader Cantave Jean-Baptiste remarked because of the elections, more people will die.
After a press conference at the Karibe Convention Center that managed to divert nearly all the international media in the metropolitan area away from the concrete problems unfolding on the ground, demonstrators took to the streets of Port-au-Prince late in the day with a festive attitude. Melinda Miles, director of the Let Haiti Live project at TransAfrica Forum observed when the protest was over, people went back to the tarps they call home to sleep with empty stomachs. Miles noted, These elections were hardly the vehicle to bring a true democratic change to the country, but the widespread fraud and disenfranchisement of Haitian voters is no cause for celebration. Nor can the future government of Haiti be decided by a rally in the streets of the capital; it should reflect the will of the majority of Haitians.
For months preceding the elections, grassroots organizations have taken to the streets to protest their marginalization from decision-making around the future of Haiti. Demonstrators have asked for solutions to the lack of housing, education and basic services for homeless earthquake survivors. Peaceful protests have frequently been met with oppressive and disproportionate force from Haitian National Police and UN peacekeeping troops. Mark Snyder of International Action Ties stated: On Sunday, spokesperson for the UN Mission, Edmond Mulet again gave the impression that the Haitian people are being manipulated from the top. He continues to ignore the escalating public discontent that has repeatedly brought people out into the streets.
During Sunday their evening press conference, the CEP stated that the elections were mostly free and fair. However, as Nora Rasman of TransAfrica Forum observed, this election was characterized by more broken promises by the international community. Every stop gap measure expressed through meetings and the media, a series of strategies that stressed the importance of getting people out to vote, failed. In spite of surprisingly significant voter turnout on election day, many voters found their efforts futile. The ONI, the national authority responsible for registering displaced voters at new polling stations close to where they are now living, didn't manage to reconcile old lists and new lists. The UN peacekeepers in charge of logistics failed to deliver ballots to many polling stations on time. Finally, measures were not taken to render the process transparent and effectively prevent the occurrence of fraud on a wide scale.
When all is said and done, however, the failure of Sunday's elections is connected to a more fundamental problem: the systematic marginalization of the Haitian people. None of the primary actors in this electoral process - from the international community, to the Haitian government, to many of the candidates themselves have demonstrated that they are aware or concerned about the real needs of Haitians, particularly the hundreds of thousands of people that remain in camps. Widespread attempts to participate, despite the time and money burden for many voters, went unmet. Haitis recovery and democracy can only be rebuilt if Haitians, and particularly the traditionally marginalized and those in displaced persons camps, are allowed to play a central role in the reconstruction process and allowed to be a key part of the necessary conversation around the Haitis political, economic and social future.
Members of the Observation Teams included representatives of:
Let Haiti Live
TransAfrica Forum
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti
Center for Economic and Policy Research
International Action Ties
The Louisiana Justice Institute
Kledev
Bri Kouri Nouvèl Gaye
Asosyasyon Vwazen Solino, The Neighborhood Association of Solino
Despite the huge challenges that the Haitian population is currently facing, a number of people attempted to vote in Haitis presidential and parliamentary elections Sunday only to be turned away from polling stations. Nicole Phillips from the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti reported in many locations there were more voters than ballots cast, reflecting a structural failure on the part of the authorities tasked with ensuring that internally displaced people (IDP) would be able to participate in the election.
At two of the largest and most isolated IDP camps, on site efforts to re-register voters so they could participate were insufficient and the timeline for people to change their voting location was too short. Geographically isolated with little to no income, these voters were unable to return to their previous voting stations and effectively disenfranchised. The situation facing these communities is representative of the limited assistance IDP camps thoughout Haiti face. When the voting station at Camp Corail opened on Sunday morning, only thirty-nine voters appeared on the list despite the fact that thousands of registered voters now reside in the camp. At Camp Canaan, an unofficial settlement of tens of thousands, political party observers paced an empty field where a polling station was supposed to be set up but never materialized.
However it was not only displaced earthquake survivors who were unable to cast ballots Sunday. Throughout Port-au-Prince, voters showed up at voting centers and, as they were unable to find their names on voting lists, were unable to cast their vote. In the rural village of Gros Morne, in the northern Artibonite, some elderly voters did not find their names on voting lists and were told to walk long distances to check at other polling stations. In the southern city of Jacmel, where there was significant earthquake damage but polling stations were not far apart, the Louisiana Justice Institute reported that reactions ranged from disappointment to rage. Many searched multiple locations unsuccessfully, seeking their name on any voter list but instead finding many of their deceased neighbors and family members listed.
Furthermore, there were numerous reports of fraudulent activities taking place, including ballot-box stuffing. Members of the delegation visited one voting center in which police had arrested individuals accused of inserting unauthorized ballots in ballot boxes, but in other centers no action appeared to be taken by authorities following reports of fraudulent activity.
As the day unfolded, frustration and anger began to grow among voters who were unable to vote or believed that fraud had taken place in their voting center. Early in the day, a crowd gathered at the Lycee Cite Soleil and waited for a polling station to open for hours. Observers who traveled from downtown Port-au-Prince into the suburb of Carrefour encountered growing rage as crowds of disenfranchised voters gathered outside of polling stations. Nicole Lazarre, an observer based in Port-au-Prince, experienced angry crowds who wanted to share their frustrations once she was identified as an independent observer. Young men expressed profound disappointment over being turned away, she noted, and about their frustration over the countrys repeated failures to get things right for itself.
Under intense pressure from the Haitian government and the international community, Haitis CEP rushed to hold an election in the midst of crisis on top of crisis. It is while one and a half million homeless earthquake survivors still live out in the open under tarps and bed sheets as a cholera epidemic spreads through the country, that elections were held. Alex Main from the Center for Economic and Policy Research explained: It wasnt the population that chose the moment or that demanded that elections be held now. In fact, in the tent communities we visited prior to the elections many individuals expressed outrage at the fact that elections were being held in the midst of an extreme crisis that is far from resolved.
Midway through election day, a dozen presidential candidates gathered to condemn what they called widespread fraud in the elections. However many grassroots and community-based groups, including the national peasant movement Tet Kole Ti Peyizan, never intended to participate. Citing the fact that the political parties had not presented any kind of social platform or program for the country, community based groups and grassroots networks were already sitting out what they called "an election without substance" and "a selection, not an election." Grassroots groups and medical experts also expressed concerns that the elections would actually increase the impacts of the cholera epidemic due to stymied medical supplies and public education efforts. As civil society leader Cantave Jean-Baptiste remarked because of the elections, more people will die.
After a press conference at the Karibe Convention Center that managed to divert nearly all the international media in the metropolitan area away from the concrete problems unfolding on the ground, demonstrators took to the streets of Port-au-Prince late in the day with a festive attitude. Melinda Miles, director of the Let Haiti Live project at TransAfrica Forum observed when the protest was over, people went back to the tarps they call home to sleep with empty stomachs. Miles noted, These elections were hardly the vehicle to bring a true democratic change to the country, but the widespread fraud and disenfranchisement of Haitian voters is no cause for celebration. Nor can the future government of Haiti be decided by a rally in the streets of the capital; it should reflect the will of the majority of Haitians.
For months preceding the elections, grassroots organizations have taken to the streets to protest their marginalization from decision-making around the future of Haiti. Demonstrators have asked for solutions to the lack of housing, education and basic services for homeless earthquake survivors. Peaceful protests have frequently been met with oppressive and disproportionate force from Haitian National Police and UN peacekeeping troops. Mark Snyder of International Action Ties stated: On Sunday, spokesperson for the UN Mission, Edmond Mulet again gave the impression that the Haitian people are being manipulated from the top. He continues to ignore the escalating public discontent that has repeatedly brought people out into the streets.
During Sunday their evening press conference, the CEP stated that the elections were mostly free and fair. However, as Nora Rasman of TransAfrica Forum observed, this election was characterized by more broken promises by the international community. Every stop gap measure expressed through meetings and the media, a series of strategies that stressed the importance of getting people out to vote, failed. In spite of surprisingly significant voter turnout on election day, many voters found their efforts futile. The ONI, the national authority responsible for registering displaced voters at new polling stations close to where they are now living, didn't manage to reconcile old lists and new lists. The UN peacekeepers in charge of logistics failed to deliver ballots to many polling stations on time. Finally, measures were not taken to render the process transparent and effectively prevent the occurrence of fraud on a wide scale.
When all is said and done, however, the failure of Sunday's elections is connected to a more fundamental problem: the systematic marginalization of the Haitian people. None of the primary actors in this electoral process - from the international community, to the Haitian government, to many of the candidates themselves have demonstrated that they are aware or concerned about the real needs of Haitians, particularly the hundreds of thousands of people that remain in camps. Widespread attempts to participate, despite the time and money burden for many voters, went unmet. Haitis recovery and democracy can only be rebuilt if Haitians, and particularly the traditionally marginalized and those in displaced persons camps, are allowed to play a central role in the reconstruction process and allowed to be a key part of the necessary conversation around the Haitis political, economic and social future.
Members of the Observation Teams included representatives of:
Let Haiti Live
TransAfrica Forum
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti
Center for Economic and Policy Research
International Action Ties
The Louisiana Justice Institute
Kledev
Bri Kouri Nouvèl Gaye
Asosyasyon Vwazen Solino, The Neighborhood Association of Solino
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