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FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0083
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 2348
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO PRIORITY 0404
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 2073
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1897

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000601

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/EX, WHA/CAR, S/CRS, DS/IP/WHA, AND INR/IAA
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS TO USOAS, USAID/LAC
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ASEC HA
SUBJECT: HAITI: FEW IRREGULARITIES, LOW TURNOUT IN SECOND
ROUND OF PARTIAL SENATE ELECTIONS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Thomas C. Tighe for reasons 1.4 (b) an
d (d)

¶1. (SBU) Summary: Embassy observers noted low turnout but few
irregularities, better organization, and greater security in
the second round of voting in Haiti's partial Senate
elections June 21.  UN peacekeepers and Haitian police
deployed more effectively than in the first round, acting
quickly to quell disruptions, make high-profile arrests, and
fend off isolated attempts by party militants to threaten
polling stations.  At least one reported death was apparently
election-related, and unidentified perpetrators stole or
destroyed ballot boxes in a small number of locations.  We
expect candidates aligned closely with President Rene Preval
to fare well in the balloting, although preliminary results
will not be available before the end of the week.  End
summary.

EMBASSY OBSERVERS REPORT FEW PROBLEMS, LOW TURNOUT
--------------------------------------------- -----

¶2. (SBU) Voting in the second round of Haiti's partial Senate
elections took place June 21 in an environment of relative
calm.  The Embassy's observers reported low turnout
throughout the country, especially in Port-au-Prince, but few
signs of significant irregularities.  Most estimated voter
turnout at or below the eleven percent registered during the
first round of elections April 19, a phenomenon attributable
in part to low interest in these purely legislative elections
and modest voter education efforts by Haiti's Provisional
Electoral Council (CEP).  Observers reported that many
polling stations in the Port-au-Prince area at the 4:00 PM
closing time had only one or two ballots cast in addition to
those of the pollworkers and pollwatchers.

¶3. (SBU) The exclusion of former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party from these elections may have
also modestly reduced turnout, especially given that flyers
threatening prospective voters again circulated before the
second round of balloting.  The week before the election,
MINUSTAH detected at least two leaflets on the streets
warning voters to stay home on election day and threatening
them with death should they venture out.  One of the leaflets
warned voters that the ballots had been printed in Mexico
(note:  by law, they are printed in Haiti) where they had
been impregnated with the deadly swine flu virus.

¶4. (SBU) Although a few polling stations opened late, Haiti's
electoral council kept many of the organizational problems
that plagued the first round of elections April 19 at bay.
Election materials were for the most part distributed to
polling stations on time.  Most poll workers had received
their required training in the days before the vote, although
last-minute substitutions and disputes involving workers
saying they were not yet paid for their first round work
created some complications.

PEACEKEEPERS, POLICE VIGOROUSLY RESPOND
---------------------------------------

¶5. (C) SRSG Hedi Annabi told international community
representatives June 21 that MINUSTAH and PNH forces had
responded firmly to incidents of fraud or violence.  He
lauded the security cooperation between the CEP, PNH, and
MINUSTAH.  UN forces were instructed to treat any attempt to
disrupt the electoral process as interference with their core
function as peacekeepers, Annabi added.  He commended the PNH
for their efforts and their decision to search even vehicles
with state or official registrations in order to prevent
disruptions of the electoral process.

¶6. (SBU) Near Belle Anse (Southeast), the PNH arrested the
brother of senatorial candidate Wenceslas Lambert and sitting
senator Joseph Lambert (Lespwa) for the illegal possession of
firearms.  (Note: The HNP had suspended all gun permits on
election day.  Lambert's brother was later released,
according to a press report, although three other men
arrested at the same time apparently remain in custody.  End
note.)  The mayor of Jeremie (Grand Anse) was reportedly
arrested in a dispute with an electoral worker, and a weapon
was seized from a Deputy in Pignon (North).  In the
Artibonite, a representative of independent candidate
Michelet Louis was arrested with ten national identity cards
in his possession.  Protests over the minimum wage continued
in Port-au-Prince on election day as some students threw
rocks at passersby from inside the university's courtyard.  A
heavy police presence kept the protestors confined to the
courtyard; the CEP had moved two polling stations away from
the affected area as a precaution.

ISOLATED CASES OF FRAUD, VIOLENCE, INTIMIDATION REPORTED
--------------------------------------------- -----------

¶7. (SBU) Despite vigorous efforts of peacekeepers and police,
there was some election-related violence.  In Grand Anse,
near Jeremie, a man died in unclear circumstances during a
politically motivated altercation.  Senator Lambert claimed
to the press June 21 that a Lespwa militant had been killed
in the Southeast in an election-related dispute, although
this report has not been confirmed.  Also in the Southeast
Department, MINUSTAH reported that a machete fight broke out
in Belle Anse and a voting center was set on fire in Mapou.
Small demonstrations caused the temporary closure of two
voting centers in the Artibonite, and MINUSTAH forces were
called in to disperse isolated disturbances in the North and
Northeast Departments.  Ballots were destroyed by unknown
perpetrators shortly after the voting concluded in three
polling stations in the Northeast.

COMMENT: BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
-------------------------------

¶8. (SBU) As President Preval told a visiting Congressional
delegation June 22, the peaceful conduct of these
long-overdue elections is a critical step forward for Haiti,
despite the low turnout and isolated irregularities.
Vacancies in the Senate have hobbled the Parliament for over
a year, and these elections provided a needed test of the new
electoral law that will serve as the framework for
legislative elections needed later this year and presidential
elections in 2010.  We will urge the relevant authorities to
follow up on substantiated accusations of violence and fraud.
TIGHE