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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Haiti orders vote recount amid protests |
| 2010-12-11 |
| [Iran Press TV] The electoral council in Haiti has ordered the ballots in the country's disputed presidential election to be recounted in the presence of Haitian and international observers. Haitian officials had previously declared the country's national election a success, despite claims of widespread vote fraud and demands for scrapping the ballots. The country's electoral commission had validated the vote in 96 percent of polling stations. Protesters have been demanding that the outcome of the general elections be declared void, claiming incumbent President Rene Preval's government collaborated with the electoral commission to rig the vote. The protesters set up fire barricades and fired gunshots in the streets of the capital, clashing with police forces and UN peacekeepers. Approximately 4.7 million Haitians were eligible to vote in the elections that would name the country's next president, as well as 11 senators and 99 deputies. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Haiti continues to struggle to control the spread of the cholera epidemic in the country, which has so far claimed more than 2,000 lives. The country is also far from recovering from last January's devastating earthquake, which killed over 250,000 people and left the capital in ruins. The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society has urged the international community to urgently fund its emergency appeal to help control the outbreak. |
| Posted by:Fred |