HTH -- Haiti Earthquake

February 1, 2011. Second round vote scheduled in Haiti

SOURCE: Altegrity Risk International

Haiti's provisional electoral council announced that a second-round vote will be held on March 20th. It is also promising to have final results of the disputed first round completed on February 2nd. The new schedule, which follows weeks of delays and rescheduling, was distributed to the media. Runoffs for president and parliament, supposed to be held earlier this month, were postponed by internal fights and public rioting over preliminary results from the first-round presidential vote in November. Those results showed ruling party candidate Jude Celestin set to take on former first lady Mirlande Manigat. However, the Organization of American States claimed a reevaluation based on fraud shows Celestin should be out and Michel Martelli, who came in third, in. Leaders of Celestin's party earlier predicted that Celestin would step down, but he had not yet done so.