Thousands celebrate election lead in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Thousands of chanting supporters of presidential candidate Rene Preval marched from a seaside slum past the national palace in a victory celebration Saturday as electoral officials continued counting ballots that have given Preval a wide lead.

The former president had 49.6 percent of 1.46 million valid votes counted so far, with the other candidates far behind, Haiti's election council said.

The winning candidate needs 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a March 19 runoff with the second-place finisher. Nearly 1.8 million votes were cast, U.N. officials said.

Jacques Bernard, the election council's director general, said a final result was expected today. He said some 119,000 ballots were voided for a variety of reasons, including some that were blank or not clearly marked.

"The decision to null votes is made by individual polling stations," Bernard said, denying claims by Preval supporters the council voided many pro-Preval votes.

At the victory celebration, marchers chanted "Lespwa! Lespwa!" — the name of Preval's party and the word "hope" in Creole — as they filled a narrow street in the Cite Soleil slum and headed toward the palace.

"We're happy because Preval is president, and that means peace and security for Haiti," said Jouldean Elouit, who wore a Preval campaign T-shirt as he marched.

"It's never too early to celebrate!" shouted Yoland Romeus, another marcher. "He must win because everybody voted for him."

The jubilant crowd swept past the presidential palace as one man shouted "We love Preval" and "With Preval; no guns, no kidnappings" through a bullhorn. Some walked up to the iron palace fence as six armed U.N. peacekeepers watched from the grounds.

This Caribbean nation, the Western Hemisphere's poorest, has been descending into anarchy without an elected leadership since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted two years ago. Kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs are common, and gunfire is near-constant in the capital's cinderblock slums.

According to partial returns, Leslie Manigat, also a former president, was in second place with 11.6 percent of the vote. All other candidates trailed in the single-digits.

Preval, an agronomist and one-time Aristide protege who has wide support among the poor, was awaiting the election returns in Marmelade, his rural hometown. He has not commented on the results.

Election officials did not know how long it would take to learn whether Preval had avoided a runoff.

Meanwhile, the 15-member Caribbean Community said Haiti will be allowed to rejoin the regional group if the elections are deemed free and fair. Haiti's membership was suspended after Caribbean leaders questioned the legitimacy of the provisional government following Aristide's departure.

Foreign leaders generally praised the elections, although the U.S. State Department said the Organization of American States needed to work with Haitian authorities to quickly correct problems, such as names of voters not appearing on registration lists.