Voting had been marred by a boycott by supporters of ousted former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, whose popular Lavalas party was prohibited from running by electoral officials because official papers did not have his signature, as well as a halt to public transportation in Port-au-Prince by authorities in an attempt to preserve order, and a raid and shooting of an election official at one polling station by protestors. (File photo)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 29, 2009 - With no clear winners coming out of voting in Haiti's Senate elections, 11 of the 12 seats that were up for grabs earlier this month will remain on the table in runoff election in June.
Haiti's provisional electoral council has released the results which show that none of the candidates received the majority vote needed for an outright win in the April 19th poll.
During the polls, voting for a 12th seat from the rural Central Department was ended after demonstrators ransacked polling places. Another date will be set for an election for that seat to be filled.
It was also revealed that there was a mere 11 per cent voter turnout for the elections.
Voting had been marred by a boycott by supporters of ousted former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, whose popular Lavalas party was prohibited from running by electoral officials because official papers did not have his signature, as well as a halt to public transportation in Port-au-Prince by authorities in an attempt to preserve order, and a raid and shooting of an election official at one polling station by protestors.
Food riots, deadly storms and political infighting has left Haiti's 30-seat Senate without a full house for more than a year.
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