PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – Haiti’s electoral council has eliminated two more people from the list of presidential candidates, but voters will still have lots of choices: 56 people tentatively remain on the ballot.
The council issued a statement late Friday saying that Levelt Francois was ruled out because of a drug conviction in the United States, while Jacky Lumarque was rejected because he had not received a discharge certificate from parliament certifying he had handled government funds appropriately when he ran a state education committee.
Neither Levelt nor Lumarque could be immediately reached for comment.
Another prominent candidate, former Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, was earlier barred from running for lack of a discharge certificate covering his time in office from 2012 until late 2014.
The first round of presidential elections takes place October 25. A final round scheduled for December 27.