Haiti to 'review' election results

[Derechos]

Election officials in Haiti have said they will review the disputed results of last month's presidential election to try to defuse violence and nationwide protests over the polls.

There will be an immediate vote recount in the presence of the top three candidates - Mirlande Manigat, Jude Celestin and Michel Martelly and international observers.

Thursday's announcement follows violent demonstrations by supporters of Martelly, the third-placed candidate, who charge that the initial results were rigged in favour of Celestin, the ruling party's candidate.

Martelly alleges the count was rigged to deny him a second-round runoff place.

Haiti appears on the brink of a major social unrest that many have feared ever since a devastating earthquake wrecked havoc in the country in January.

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/americas/2010/12/2010129173546212465.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Haiti officials to re-count disputed election

Haiti officials to re-count disputed election
Move follows rioting sparked by selection of government-backed candidate to enter runoff
By JONATHAN M. KATZ
The Associated Press
updated 40 minutes ago 2010-12-09T19:29:43

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti's electoral council will re-count the vote in the country's disputed election in view of election monitors and potentially the three leading candidates themselves, the council president said Thursday.

The decision follows rioting sparked by the announcement that government-backed candidate Jude Celestin and former first lady Mirlande Manigat were poised to enter a January runoff, while entertainer Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly had apparently been narrowly eliminated.

Council president Gaillot Dorsainvil read a statement on Haitian radio saying that tally sheets would be re-counted with international observers and electoral officials.

"Given the evident dissatisfaction of many voters, protests and violence that followed the publication of preliminary results," the Provisional Electoral Council has decided to start a re-count immediately, he said.

More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40591130/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/