The Record Low Voter Participation in Haiti’s 2016 Election

by Catherine Charlemagne (Haiti Liberte)

After polls closed on the evening of Nov. 20, 2016, all the actors involved in Haiti’s presidential and legislative elections that day profusely complimented the authorities who organized them. Later, however, some of the candidates began contesting results that were not favorable to them.

            In any case, after all the praises sung for the government and the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) and the doubt that arose a few days later, we decided to take a closer look at why so few Haitians actually took part in the vote or were even interested in these elections.

U.S. Haiti Aid Reports to Congress Are Deficient and Based on “Incomplete Data,” New Review Finds

by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)

A new paper from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) and the Haiti Advocacy Working Group (HAWG) reviews reports released by the U.S. State Department on contracts for Haiti aid and finds significant omissions and deficiencies, including incomplete data, a failure to link projects and outcomes, and a failure to adequately identify mistakes and lessons learned. The State Department reports are intended to comply with the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act (APHA), which was signed into law in August 2014. CEPR and HAWG incorporated Haitian civil society feedback in their review of these reports.

How Electoral Observers Evaluated Haiti’s Nov. 20, 2016 Election

by Catherine Charlemagne (Haiti Liberte)

It is an unmistakable sign. Long before the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) and the Haitian government gave their assessment of the Nov. 20, 2016 presidential and legislative elections, all electoral observation organizations (both Haitian and foreign) had made it clear that they felt everything had gone well.

            These organizations felt that the electoral results proclaimed by the CEP also reflected the atmosphere that day. These institutions are generally very cautious about recognizing the good conduct of an election in Haiti, especially the results.

Human Rights and Alternative Media Delegation Report Haiti November 20th Elections

Lead Up to Election Day Friday, November 18th was the last day of campaigning for Haiti’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections which were to be held on Sunday, November 20th.  On Fridaywe visited Delmas 2 where we met with activists on the ground including women and men.  Preparations were underway for the get-out-the vote campaign.  In Delmas 2 there were banners and other materials for the Lavalas Presidential candidate Dr. Maryse Narcisse.  Several people expressed to us the widespread concern that the election may be stolen, nevertheless the people we spoke to felt it was nevertheless important to vote.

A Breakdown of Haiti’s Preliminary Election Results

by Jake Johnston (CEPR)

More than two weeks after Haitians went to the polls to elect a new president, 16 Senators and 25 Deputies, preliminary results from all races have finally been released. Presidential results have already been contested by the second, third and fourth place finishers while many legislative races will likely be contested as well. However, if the preliminary results are upheld, the Nov. 20 elections will have consolidated nearly unprecedented political power in the hands of PHTK [the Haitian Bald Headed Party], the party of former president Michel Martelly. While PHTK and its allies appear to have scored electoral victories at both the presidential and legislative level, their political success has occurred in a context of extremely low turnout, raising questions about the significance of their mandate to govern moving forward.

Another fraudulent election in Haiti

Listen here to a radio interview by KPFK Flashpoints radio host Dennis Bernstein with Flashpoints radio Senior Producer Kevin Pina and Haiti's Radio Soleil Director Rico Dupuy.

15th Day of Massive Growing Protests against Electoral Coup & Voter Suppression in Haiti

UN secretary-general apologizes to people of Haiti, outlines new plan to fight cholera epidemic

FROM CARIBBEAN NEWS NOW


NEW YORK, USA -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday apologized to the people of Haiti, expressing deep regret for the loss of life and suffering caused by the country’s cholera epidemic, and outlined the way forward including immediate steps to stem the outbreak and long-term support for those affected – while also highlighting the need for adequate funding of the proposal.

“On behalf of the United Nations, I want to say very clearly: we apologise to the Haitian people. We simply did not do enough with regard to the cholera outbreak and its spread in Haiti. We are profoundly sorry for our role,” Ban told UN member states at a gathering of the General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, and at which he launched his report on the matter, entitled A New Approach to Cholera in Haiti.

Protesters in Haiti Say Moise Victory Amounts to ‘Electoral Coup’ (Interview with KPFK radio host & Global Women's Strike organizer Margaret Prescod)

Deconstructing Another Right-Wing Victory in Haiti

by Kim Ives (Haiti Liberte)

The largest and most important percentage to emerge from Haiti’s Nov. 20, 2016 election is that 78.31% of the country’s 6.2 million eligible voters did not vote.*

            Some could not obtain their National Identification Card (CIN) or find their name on the long voter lists posted on the gates of huge voting centers. Others could not get to their assigned center because they live or work too far away, perhaps in another part of the country. In fact, the whole “voting center” system, which is different from that used in the 1990s when participation was much higher, has objectively suppressed the votes of many poor, itinerant Haitians.

            Nonetheless, it appears that the vast majority of Haitians remain disenchanted with or unmoved by the candidates offered in the last four presidential contests in 2010, 2011, 2015, and 2016, or have lost faith in elections as a means to change their miserable lot. Participation in all those contests lurked at about one quarter of the electorate. The November 2016 polling is one of the lowest turnouts for a presidential election in Haiti and the Western Hemisphere.