Haiti’s Elections

Today, Haitians voted. Or rather, some voted, some were denied the opportunity and others voted more than once. Some polling sites were shut down, others opened late, and many voters names were improperly excluded from voting registers, meaning they couldn't vote. I'm sure there are stories in the big papers about the broad picture of what happened across Haiti today, so I'll leave them to tell that story. Instead, I'll offer some snippets from my first time getting to be an official elections observer.

Something curious: Here's the layout of the typical voting site, almost every one of which was housed in a school. The classrooms were divided into different "biwo yo" or bureaus, each one hosted by a group of local members from national political parties. Each biwo received a voting kit which included several clear boxes for depositing ballots and precisely 495 ballots of each type of ballot (President, senator, and deputy). Voters would show their national identification cards at the entrance to the school, which were often controlled by armed police. They would then visit voter lists that told them which biwo they were required to vote at. Here's the curious part: the party members running each biwo had to certify every ballot and had control of the ballot boxes. With so many ballots, it seems entirely possible that in quiet moments they could stuff the ballot boxes with ease. There are supposed to be observers from other parties prowling about to catch any such fraud, but this seemed like a less than ideal system for dealing with potential fraud.

Something jarring: The first polling sites we visited were in Cite Soleil, where serious problems were plaguing the polls from the start. The second site had a huge contingent of UN troops outside, and people (mostly youth) were furious about a late start. Up at Lalue, a wealthy suburban community where standing President Preval had just finished voting as we arrived, it was the complete opposite. Polls opened on time and were orderly, voters of all ages turned up and cast their votes without fanfare.

Something positive: Maybe there are some downsides to this aspect that I'm not seeing, but these elections were a communal event. To contrast, the last time I visited the polls in the U.S. I went into a lonely senior center, was met by two or three poll workers, voted and left. It was a fifteen minute activity at most. In Haiti, there were likely 100 poll workers or more at every single site we visited. Many were housed at schools and had people sticking around long after they voted, or congregating right outside entry gates observing who went in and out. This participation and interest was at least one redeeming aspect of how today's events unspooled.

Something surreal: Oh, and for good measure we arrived at an out-of-the-way polling site and crossed paths with singer Wyclef Jean as he was coming to vote.