ARTICLE - FRAUD FOUND IN ELECTIONS

FRAUD FOUND IN HAITI ELECTIONS: OFFICIAL
(AFP)

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haitian officials said Wednesday that the second round run-off in the nation's presidential and legislative elections had been marked by fraud.

Some 1,518 tally sheets from the presidential vote were put aside awaiting a final decision on their validity as they were "visibly fraudulent," the head of the Provisional Electoral Council, Widmack Matador told journalists.

But he did not reply when asked whether the findings would cast doubt on the results of the polls in which popular singer Michel Martelly, 50, faced off against former first lady Mirlande Manigat, 70.

The first round of the elections in November were also marred by widespread corruption, forcing the election commission to oust President Rene Preval's handpicked successor and allow Martelly to run instead.

The Organization of American States, which has been monitoring the vote, noted in a probe into the first round of the elections that there were some 11,181 polling stations spread across the country.

If the election commission's figures released Wednesday are confirmed, that would mean some 14 percent of tally sheets from the March 20 run-off had been tampered with.

On Tuesday, the electoral commission said the announcement of the provisional presidential election results had been delayed by four days to April 4. Final results are not expected until April 16.

The candidates are vying for the job of rebuilding the Caribbean nation devastated by a January 2010 earthquake that flattened the capital Port-au-Prince, claiming more than 225,000 lives.