2010 hasn’t been kind to Haiti. Not that the past few decades – or even two centuries – have been generous, but an earthquake, hurricane and the introduction of cholera have made these past eleven months particularly challenging. It’s also why there has been so much hype about Sunday’s much-anticipated presidential and parliamentary elections. At the very least, the vote offered hope that a new government might overturn what seems to be an endless tide of bad fortune.
I spoke with the journalists I am working with about possible scenarios for Sunday’s vote: violence, which in 1987 left more than a dozen dead; fraud, which has been as much the rule as the exception in the last several elections; and logistical complications that have interfered with what otherwise have been deemed mostly free and fair election. After all, setting up more than 1500 polling sites, with each site housing up to several dozen voting booths accommodating 450 voters each, already required herculean gymnastics. On top of that has been the added ordeal of finding new polling sites because of the hundreds crushed in the quake, and replacing thousands of buried voter registration cards.
But none of the journalists, myself included, anticipated what did happen during Sunday’s vote: twelve of the 19 presidential candidates formed a coalition mid-day and asked that the vote be annulled. This request happened at the same time the electoral body announced they were ‘comfortable’ with how the vote was proceeding.
The journalists that I accompanied had already recorded dozens of irregularities in numerous polling places – voting booths with no list of registered voters, voting booths with no material, electorates whose names were omitted from registration lists. One particular site housed 39 voting centers of 450 people. Do the math: that’s over 17,000 voters in a single courtyard, not including three poll workers and five political party observers for each center. My journalists on site noted that the vast majority of transparent voting boxes marked President, Deputy and Senator were empty. The polls opened at six and it was nearly noon; the voting material had just arrived.
Two of the journalists I went out with had never covered an election. They weren’t surprised by the disorganization, which we agreed appeared to be more a logistical failure than an organized effort to derail the vote in favor of one candidate over another. But it was widespread enough to be of concern. We were already hearing about stuffed ballot boxes, ballots for parliamentarians from the one part of the country inadvertently being sent to another, and other irregularities throughout the country. By the time we left the press conference, we realized it was even more serious than we thought.
Hours later, when the presidential commission stood by its earlier assessment, saying that it had no intention of cancelling the day’s vote, journalists were left speechless. Commentators fumbled for words, one camera panned a woman who sat in front of the microphone with her mouth wide open in disbelief.
One of my journalists just shook his head. “I am a journalist but I’m also a Haitian citizen and I exercised my right to vote today.” He held up his inked thumb, proof that he’d voted. “But this is wrong, and I want to exercise my right to express that.”
What was clear to this journalist, however, was that he could only cover, as oppose to join, those who demonstrated in support of the coalition’s announcement. More such demonstrations are expected in the days to come as the population waits for the electoral results – they won’t come before December 7. In order to win outright, a presidential candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote. It’s unclear, like so many things in Haiti, what will happen if one or more of Sunday’s 12-candidate coalition turns out to be in the top two. A second presidential round is scheduled for January, with the winner taking office February 7, 2011.
What was also clear to all the journalists that I was with this election day was that it’s impossible to predict what will happen. Despite their preparation, they were thrown a curve ball. And in Haiti, it’s likely there are plenty more where that one came from.