The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS/EOM) to Haiti, led by Brazil’s former Foreign and Defense Minister Celso Amorim, recognized the efforts put forth by electoral and security authorities during Sunday´s presidential and parliamentary elections.
The Chief of Mission highlighted that “The OAS Mission witnessed a significant improvement yesterday from the August 9th elections.”
On Election Day, the OAS/EOM team of 125 observers from 27 countries was present from the opening of the polls up to the counting of the votes in all 10 departments of the country, visiting 487 voting centers.
The Mission was aware of the obstacles and challenges leading up to and during election day. In spite of some isolated instances, Haitian citizens with the will to vote were able to cast their ballots.
In its preliminary report, the OAS/EOM observed a higher turnout than during the August 9 elections, a positive tendency the OAS would like to see increase in future elections although isolated incidents of violence occurred on polling day. However, they did not affect the overall course of the election. The OAS/EOM commended the determination and patience of the voters and urged all actors in the electoral process to act responsibly in the coming days.
As important steps of the electoral process are yet to be completed, the Mission calls upon all political parties and the electorate to patiently await the tabulation and pronouncement of the official results by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). The OAS Mission will remain in place until the final results are tallied. OAS observers will be present at the tally center 24 hours a day during the tabulation process and until the results of the presidential election are announced.
Reference: E-322/15