VZCZCXRO7988
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1198/01 1911213
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101213Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6471
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1586
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1405
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0848
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1257

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001198 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: OAS TO REOPEN VOTER REGISTRATION 
 
REF: PORT AU PRINCE 1134 
 
PORT AU PR 00001198  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U)  Summary:  The Organization of American States (OAS) 
is working with the Ministry of Justice's national identity 
office (ONI) to reopen voter registration inside existing 
civil registry offices.  The OAS, though short of funding, 
plans to begin registration in August but does not expect a 
large number of new voters.  The provisional electoral 
council (CEP), however, has exhibited some resistance to 
relinquishing authority over voter registration to ONI.  The 
OAS cited the need to trim the number of employees and keep 
election costs down, but would like to continue working with 
some electoral staff to institutionalize electoral 
procedures.  End summary. 
 
Voter Registration and Civil Registry 
------------- 
 
¶2. (U)  OAS technical expert Felix Ortega on June 27 told 
poloffs that the OAS and the national identity office (ONI) 
will begin opening 150 regional voter registration offices 
during the first week of August.  (Note: Voter registration 
has been closed since October 2005. End note.)   The GoH 
decided that after the elections cycle, ONI would manage all 
voter registration.  ONI has existed as a division of the 
Ministry of Justice since fall 2005, but only has about 10 
employees.  ONI will now convert the 182 civil registry 
offices, with a total of 600 employees, into combination 
voter registration/civil registry centers.  Ortega reported 
that the provisional electoral council (CEP) members resisted 
the authority transfer to the point where Prime Minister 
Alexis and Minister of Justice Rene Magloire sent an official 
letter to the CEP informing them that they will no longer be 
in charge of voter registration. 
 
¶3. (U)  Ortega estimated that between 500,000 and 700,000 new 
voters will register in the first two months of operation, 
mostly people who have turned 18 since registration closed in 
¶2005.  The OAS is preparing the system for an intake of one 
million people over the initial two-month time span, but 
capacity can easily be increased, according to Ortega.  He 
said that CEP president Max Mathurin's estimate of two 
million new registered voters is excessive, because most 
people who wanted to register did so during the previous 
registration period.  Ortega estimated that the OAS needs USD 
17 million over two years to support the voter registration 
and civil registry project.  To date, they have USD 3 million 
pledged by Canada. 
 
Electoral Council and Staff 
------------- 
 
¶4. (U)  The OAS's main priority now is working with mid-level 
civil servants at the CEP, according to Ortega.  These 
employees are the stable core of the institution, whereas the 
council members are term-limited.  Ortega would like to train 
the mid-level employees so that the CEP functions efficiently 
regardless of the council members, but stated that the GoH 
needs to provide job security so that each new council does 
not try to replace all existing civil servants.  Working with 
the mid-level employees would also allow the OAS to begin 
preparations for the Senate elections before the creation of 
a permanent CEP, including set up of the tabulation center, 
political party registration and ballot preparation. 
 
Elections Budget 
------------- 
 
¶5. (U)  Ortega noted that over the next five years, Haiti is 
due to hold 11 elections at a cost of USD 185 million.  To 
economize, the CEP needs to downsize its headquarters as well 
as regional offices.  The communal electoral offices (French 
acronym BEC) have 600 employees with little or no tasks 
between elections, and so should only be hired on a temporary 
basis during election cycles.  Additionally, ONI will not 
need all 2500 employees hired by the CEP to operate 
registration centers.  Ortega estimated ONI only needs 500 
regional workers. 
 
¶6. (U)  Comment:  Working with the CEP staff is essential to 
 
PORT AU PR 00001198  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
the future of the institution and Haitian elections in 
general.  While the council is necessary for making final 
decisions on challenges to the elections results, it does not 
carry responsibility for the logistical process of elections. 
 The OAS is also correct that the elections staff is 
unnecessarily large, but as with other GoH entities, firing 
state employees is a controversial undertaking. 
SANDERSON