Run-off

The March 20th presidential run-off scheduled for Mirlande Manigat and Michel Martelly has passed but results have been delayed for days now. Many news outlets are saying Martelly, a former singer, is in the lead but no one knows for sure. Haitians are anxious to know the results as the process of voting was less than satisfying for them.

While there was a huge turn out of voters for the elections, problems began to surface, one after another. Many of the polling stations opened hours late, leaving many Haitians, some being at polling stations as early as 4am, waiting even longer. At the polling station held at Petion Ville school, voters standing in line since 4:30 am still had voted at 8:30 am.

Huge turn out for the Haitian presidential run-off

Delays at the voting polls, as many worry, can lead to inaccuracies in the ballot counts as illustrated in the elections held in November of 2010.

The delays are blamed on the polling station officials. Many of the ballots and voting materials, such as "indelible" ink and pencils, were not delivered to polling stations until 9 am (after people had already been waiting five hours!) The set up of the polling stations didn't make the situation any better, with some having as many as 30 booths. This could have been good but with the disorganization of the stations, it wasn't a good idea to have this many booths.

Presidential candidates, Merlande Manigat (above) and Michel Martelly (below) at polling stations for run-off

With all the chaos at the polling stations, Haitians were glad to cast their votes, and hope their votes will actually count. We shall see who the next president of Haiti will be in the next few days.