PORT AU PRINCE- The Organisation of American States (OAS)/Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Joint Election Observation Mission (JEOM) says despite the irregularities during Sunday’s presidential and legislative council in Haiti, they are not serious enough to invalidate the polls.
In a lengthy statement tracing its involvement in the electoral process in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country, JEOM said that it considered whether the irregularities it observed were of the magnitude and consistency that would invalidate the legitimacy of the process, adding that based on its observations in the 11 electoral departments, it “does not believe that these irregularities, serious as they were, necessarily invalidated the process. “Despite the disruptions of the polling and vote count process in several locations and the withdrawal decision made by twelve presidential candidates, the legislative and presidential elections continued until the end of the voting and vote count.”
JEOM said that the decision of the 12 presidential candidates to call for the cancellation of the elections a few hours after the start of the process “was precipitate and regrettable.
“Moreover, these candidates should have been minded of Article 226 of the Electoral Law which establishes that ‘the interruption of the vote for whatever the cause and wherever cannot be considered a reason to cancel the elections’”.
JEOM said that the candidates could also have had recourse to the legal remedies available to them by the Electoral Law.
“Their allegations of “massive fraud” would have been ascertained by the vote count as well as by their substantiation of their claims,” it said, calling on the disgruntled candidates to “make available this evidence to the CEP (Provisional Electoral Council) within the legally stipulated claims process which is established to ensure the transparency and fairness of the process”. (CMC)
