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<div style="display: block;" id="reader-header" class="header"> <b><small><small><small><a
href="http://sfbayview.com/2015/10/fact-finding-delegation-reports-an-electoral-coup-now-in-process-in-haiti/"
id="reader-domain" class="domain"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://sfbayview.com/2015/10/fact-finding-delegation-reports-an-electoral-coup-now-in-process-in-haiti/">http://sfbayview.com/2015/10/fact-finding-delegation-reports-an-electoral-coup-now-in-process-in-haiti/</a></a><br>
<br>
October 29, 2015<br>
</small></small></small></b>
<h1 id="reader-title">Fact finding delegation reports an
electoral coup now in process in Haiti</h1>
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<h3><strong>Every vote must count; Black lives matter in
Haiti too</strong></h3>
<p><strong><em>by Pierre Labossiere, Haiti Action
Committee; Yvon Kernizan, Haitian Human Rights
Campaigner; Margaret Prescod, journalist and Global
Women’s Strike representative; Walter Riley, civil
rights attorney; Barbara Rhine, attorney, National
Lawyers Guild SF </em></strong></p>
<p>Following Haiti’s controversial presidential and
legislative elections held on Sunday, Oct. 25, alarm is
growing about irregularities in the counting of the
votes at voting centers and in the transportation of
votes to the tabulation center. There is widespread
mistrust of the process.</p>
<p>Most international observers of the election and
subsequent press reports have focused on the day of the
election but not on the vital final stage of the
electoral process – the counting and tabulation of the
votes.</p>
<p>Although multiple political parties are protesting the
post-election counting process, Haiti’s ruling party is
praising the vote and objecting to critiques of the
tabulation process. CEP (Haiti’s Provisional Electoral
Council) has yet to make an official statement to
address the growing concerns.</p>
<p>Voters are referring to the tabulation process as an
electoral coup. Eyewitnesses on the ground say that the
votes for each polling center must be matched with the
names on the list for that polling center. If they do
not match, they must not be counted. This is a practical
way of weeding out ballot stuffing.</p>
<p>Although Haitians turned out in large numbers to vote,
reports are putting the turnout at 30 percent. Community
leaders are challenging this figure across the country;
they say the turnout was much larger. There is also a
groundswell for every vote to be counted in a
transparent manner.</p>
<h3><span>Most international observers of the election and
subsequent press reports have focused on the day of
the election but not on the vital final stage of the
electoral process – the counting and tabulation of the
votes.</span></h3>
<p>Members of the Human Rights and Labor Fact Finding
Delegation, who were in Haiti in the lead-up to the
election and <a href="http://ymlp344.com/zYCKzI">reported
on their findings</a>, having met with over a dozen
communities in several areas of the country, are now
receiving the following reports:</p>
<ul>
<li>Voters were blocked from voting when their names,
though on the electoral rolls outside their polling
center, were missing from the list inside the center
and no provisional ballots were provided;</li>
<li>Irregularities in the counting of ballots at voting
centers;</li>
<li>Starting about 3 p.m. on the day of the vote,
ballots were brought in to replace the votes actually
cast by the people;</li>
<li>Ballots collected at individual polling stations are
being intercepted in a number of areas when in transit
to the central tabulation center;</li>
<li>Some supporters of the candidate backed by the
government now in power were caught ballot stuffing by
MINUSTAH (U.N. troops);</li>
<li>In Port au Prince, a vehicle transporting ballots to
the tabulation center got into an accident, there were
two large boxes of ballots found and all were votes
for the candidate supported by President Martelly. It
is reported that the person driving the vehicle in
question was an employee of the national palace;</li>
<li>Lavalas, the party that has shown a surge of support
among voters despite having being banned from the
electoral process for several election cycles
following the coup against the Lavalas founder and
leader President Aristide, has called for the
candidate supported by the ruling party to be
disqualified from the election due to illegal activity
to influence the outcome of the vote;</li>
<li>The media is not reporting the surge in support for
Lavalas despite voters testifying to the numbers.</li>
</ul>
<p>Delegation members say that the U.S. has a special
responsibility to ensure a fair and transparent counting
of the votes. The U.S. confirmed the Aug. 9 election,
although fraud was rampant and the turnout ranged from 4
to18 percent. The U.S. has poured millions of dollars
into the election, and observers say that any vote
tampering would not be without the complicity of the
U.S. government.</p>
<h3><strong>Calls for free and fair elections in Haiti</strong></h3>
<p>Congresswoman Maxine Waters said in a recent press
interview: “There is a history in Haiti of the elections
being tampered with … We know that people would like to
just smooth things over and say that they are hopeful
that things are going to go well because they don’t want
to deal with the truth of the problems of Haiti and the
problems of trying to get fair elections. There are
still those who remember Martelly [Haiti’s outgoing
president] and how he got elected and became president.
So I am sure that feeling does not send a lot of
confidence throughout the country. And we should all be
concerned and continue to press forward as hard as we
can.”</p>
<p>John McDonnell, the U.K. shadow chancellor, who has
supported the people of Haiti in the past, expressed
concern for the election: “It is critical that this
election is a free and fair election, without violence
or intimidation. Let democracy prevail.”</p>
<p>The actor Danny Glover: “There’s a great deal of money
placed in this election … of which $30 million came from
the U.S. The U.S. has a vital interest in what happens
in this election, even though they are willing to accept
fraud, accept any way in which voters are dismissed or
removed from the voter register, any way in which Famni
Lavalas is removed. They understand this is an important
election. We have to understand that too.”</p>
<p>Delegation members include Barbara Rhine, attorney,
representing the National Lawyers Guild of San
Francisco; Dave Welsh, San Francisco Labor Council;
Pierre Labossiere, Haiti Action Committee; Margaret
Prescod, nationally syndicated journalist on Pacifica
Radio and representative of the Global Women’s Strike in
the U.S., England, Ireland, India and Peru.</p>
<p>Resources:</p>
<ul>
<li><a
href="https://waters.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-waters-urges-secretary-kerry-support-free-fair-and">Rep.
Maxine Waters’ letter to Secretary Kerry re
elections in Haiti</a></li>
<li><a
href="http://www.voanews.com/content/haitian-vote-orderly-results-expected-early-november/3022897.html">Haiti
Waits for Results of Presidential Election</a>, VOA
News, Oct. 26, 2015</li>
<li><a href="http://ymlp344.com/zYCKzI">Summary of the
fact-finding Human Rights and Labor Delegation to
Haiti re presidential and legislative elections on
Oct. 25, 2015</a></li>
</ul>
<p><em>The delegation can be reached through Global
Women’s Strike, at </em><a
href="mailto:philly@globalwomenstrike.net"><em><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:philly@globalwomenstrike.net">philly@globalwomenstrike.net</a></em></a><em>.
</em></p>
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