Haiti prioritizes security ahead of presidential elections in October

Preparations are underway in Haiti for a long-awaited presidential election, scheduled for October 9.

The Provisional Electoral Council and Office of Public Security are gearing up to try again after the results of the last vote were scrapped.

“We are going to mobilize a number of electoral guards who are indispensable to secure the elections. We will also mobilize officials with indispensable information at all the voting centres,” said Himmler Rebu, secretary of public security.

“According to the electoral list and the information received from the Office of National Identity (ONI), there are more than 6,189,000 voters who can participate in the next elections,” said Uder Antoine, Executive Director of Provisional Electoral Council.

Many Haitians are hoping that when the election ends, there will be a president in place to steer the country in the right direction.

“Hopefully, the country will finally have an elected president and, finally, the country can develop,” a civilian said.

“On election day, if they want to organize seriously, they will create safe conditions for everyone, for me too, so that I can go vote for the candidate who I want to change the country,” said another Haitian.

About 50 presidential contenders vied to succeed former President Michel Martelly in Oct. 2015, but after protests and multiple postponements of a run-off, a non-binding investigation said the vote had been marred by fraud.

Subsequently, the electoral council said it should be started from scratch.