Haitians to Vote in Critical Election Sunday

Polls open Sunday in Haiti for an election seen as one of the country’s most important in years.

As many as 4.5 million voters are expected to cast ballots to elect a president for a country trying to recover from January’s massive earthquake and now struggling with a cholera outbreak.

Voters will choose a successor to President Rene Preval, who is ineligible to run for a third term.

Three of the 18 candidates seeking to replace him have emerged as front-runners. Former first lady Mirlande Manigat would be the first woman president if elected. A popular entertainer, Michel Martelly, has drawn large crowds of supporters. And a member of the unpopular ruling party, Jude Celestin, is a top candidate.

Haitian-born entertainer Wyclef Jean was disqualified from running by Haitian election officials who said he did not meet a five-year residency requirement. Jean was among 15 candidates disqualified from running in the election.

Preliminary results are not expected until December 7, and the final official results will not be announced until December 20.

Also Sunday Haitians will elect a 99-member lower house and 11 members of the 30-seat Senate.

A runoff election would be held on January 16, if needed.

Thousands of international election observers are expected to be at the 11,000 polling stations in hopes of reversing a long-term trend of electoral fraud and voter intimidation.

Many Haitians have expressed a lack of confidence in the election because the campaign has been marred by fears of a worsening cholera outbreak and deadly protests. Others lost their necessary voter identification cards in the earthquake. But the U.N. World Health Organization has said holding the election Sunday should not worsen the cholera situation.

With the cholera death toll now at more than 1,500, some candidates participating in Sunday’s balloting have suggested the election be postponed.

Haiti is still recovering from the January 12 earthquake, which killed some 250,000 people and left about 1 million others homeless.