Candidate's ouster urged in Haiti runoff

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - An international team of election experts will recommend that Haiti's government-backed candidate be eliminated from a presidential runoff ballot because of strong evidence of fraud in voting that led to riots, according to a draft of the report obtained yesterday by The Associated Press.

The report by the Organization of American States team has not been released publicly but officials confirmed its conclusions. It was to be presented to President René Préval later in the day, foreign and Haitian sources confirmed.

The report's most important conclusions are that the disputed Nov. 28 vote should neither be thrown out entirely nor recounted, and that enough fraudulent or improper ballots should be invalidated to drop governing-party candidate Jude Célestin into third place and out of the second-round runoff.

That would favor carnival singer Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, a populist candidate who was in third place and out of runoff contention when results were announced last month. Former first lady and law professor Mirlande Manigat would remain in first place. All the top candidates would lose thousands of votes under the team's recommendations.

Haitian electoral officials must make the final decision on what to do, but the OAS recommendations could weigh heavily. The three top candidates all believe they should advance to a second-round vote if not declared the winner outright.

Rioting broke out in several cities when the preliminary results were announced, with Martelly's supporters blocking streets and demanding their candidate be immediately named president.

The U.S. Embassy expressed doubt over the results at the time, saying they did not match observers' polling estimates that showed Celestin in line to be eliminated. The OAS report matches that expectation.

Préval was not expected to respond publicly until after Wednesday's one-year anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince.