ARTICLE - BALLOT MISTAKE - ELECTION

BALLOT MISTAKE IN HAITI'S ELECTION WAS CORRECTED: UN SPOKESMAN
(FocusNews) -

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), along with the Caribbean country's Provisional Electoral Commission promptly, fixed a mistake in the electoral kits distributed for presidential run-off elections in Haiti, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said, as cited by Xinhua.

"The UN Mission in Haiti and the UN Development Program (UNDP) have clarified that some incomplete electoral kits were identified before voting began last Sunday," Nesirky said. "These kits were in fact materials from 2009, which were kept for electoral training purposes and mistakenly deployed."

The run-off was held March 20 between former Haitian first lady Mirlande Manigat and popular singer Michel Martelly. Preliminary results of the election will be announced on March 31 and the final results will follow on April 16.

Haq explained that the problem with the ballots was quickly corrected.

The UN Mission in Haiti, working closely with the Provisional Electoral Commission, immediately redistributed the missing material, between 8:30 and 11:00 a.m, he said. "The Provisional Electoral Commission also decided to extend the voting by one hour, until 5:00 p.m., in the affected centers."

He added that the mistake affected 69 voting centers in the area of Port-au-Prince, which amounting to 4.6 percent of the 1, 500 total centers in Haiti.

The new president of Haiti will face the challenging task of revitalizing a poverty-ridden country severely damaged by a January 2010 earthquake.