The Seventh Electoral Mission deployed 160 observers in three departments: Ouest, Centre, and Nord-Est. This preliminary report just covers the Nord-Est. All 120 observers in the Nord-Est submitted completed questionnaires and were closely questioned by the mission director, James Morrell. Many also submitted photos of the polling return.
More than the immediate mechanics, the most striking finding was the near-universal popularity of an excluded senatorial candidate, former senator Rudolph Boulos, who was described by all as the winner had he been allowed to run. He was rejected by the electoral commission under a pretext reflecting the usual Haitian political intrigue.
As a result, the mission considers the senatorial race in the Nord-Est to be false. It should be annulled and rerun with Boulos in it.
This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that interlocutors described Boulos as a leading exponent of change, and that this change, according to our interviews, was the main factor motivating the Nord-Est people to vote.
The political intrigue spoiling the Nord-Est senatorial race overshadowed what was otherwise a creditable performance by the electoral apparatus and voters. The mechanics of election day will be quantified and further analyzed in the final report.
The reports from observers in the other two provinces will be shortly evaluated and presented here.
Senator Boulos is a founding member of one of the two sponsoring organizations, the Haiti Democracy Project. James Morrell, the executive director, received his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1977.
Despite this association of Boulos with the Haiti Democracy Project, the conclusion rests on the facts. Any election in which the top candidate is excluded for political reasons is invalid.