Country prepares for release of poll results

Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (AP):

Officials sorted through fraudulent ballots and scrambled for compromises to head off the threat of social unrest as Haiti prepared for the expected release of results from its dysfunctional presidential election.

Already wracked by a cholera epidemic and still recovering from the January 12 earthquake, the country is now being tested by accusations of fraud in the November 28 vote and disputes over anticipated results. Rock-throwing clashes with police have been a near-daily occurrence while furious closed-door discussions take place within the provisional electoral council, or CEP.

January run-off

If a candidate comes away with more than 50 per cent of the vote, he or she will be president. The top two candidates are otherwise supposed to go on to a January 16 run-off, but electoral officials on Mon-day were considering allowing at least a third candidate into the final round if the vote is close.

"If it's a question of a few hundred (votes), it's up to the CEP," said Organisation of American States-Caribbean Community chief observer Colin Granderson.

The 19-candidate ballot has effectively narrowed to three leading contenders: law professor and former first lady Mirlande Manigat, popular carnival singer Michel Martelly, and state-run construction company executive Jude Celestin.