BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE

DATELINE=MIAMI

INTRO: EVEN THOUGH THE BALLOT COUNTING IS FAR FROM OVER IN HAITI'S LEGISLATIVE AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS, MANY HAITIANS AND INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS ARE LOOKING AHEAD TO JULY 23RD. ON THAT DATE HAITIANS RETURN TO THE POLLS FOR RUNOFF ELECTIONS. V-O-A'S JIM TEEPLE REPORTS, BECAUSE OF PROBLEMS LAST SUNDAY IN THE FIRST ROUND OF VOTING, MANY HAITIANS WILL VOTE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON JULY 23RD.

TEXT: THOUSANDS OF HAITIANS WERE UNABLE TO VOTE ON JUNE 25TH — DESPITE THE PRESENCE OF HUNDREDS OF ELECTION MONITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND A U-N MILITARY PRESENCE WHICH KEPT THE PEACE.

HAITIANS WENT TO THE POLLS TO CHOOSE FROM MORE THAN 10-THOUSAND CANDIDATES WHO WERE RUNNING FOR OVER TWO-THOUSAND POSITIONS. VOTERS CHOSE NEW MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, 133-MAYORS AND HUNDREDS OF THREE MEMBER TOWN COUNCIL POSITIONS.

WHILE ELECTION DAY WAS GENERALLY PEACEFUL, THE VOTE WAS DISRUPTED BY MASSIVE DISORGANIZATION. MANY CANDIDATES NAMES WERE LEFT OFF BALLOTS, POLLING STATIONS OPENED LATE, AND IN SEVERAL TOWNS, VOTING WAS SUSPENDED BECAUSE OF PRE-ELECTION ATTACKS AGAINST ELECTORAL FACILITIES AND OFFICIALS.

THE BALLOT COUNTING PROCESS HAS ALSO BEEN CHARACTERIZED BY PROBLEMS. VOTES ARE BEING COUNTED BY HAND, AND INTERNATIONAL MONITORS SAY THEY HAVE OBSERVED WIDESPREAD IRREGULARITIES IN THE BALLOT COUNTING PROCESS.

RON GOULD WAS IN CHARGE OF HUNDREDS OF ELECTION MONITORS FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES. HE SAYS PROBLEMS THAT DEVELOPED WITH BOTH THE VOTING PROCESS, AND THE BALLOT COUNTING WHICH FOLLOWED, CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO A LACK OF TRAINING ON THE PART OF HAITIAN ELECTION OFFICIALS.

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THERE HAVE BEEN CASES AROUND THE COUNTRY WHICH HAVE BEEN BLOWN UP SIGNIFICANTLY OF BURNING OF BALLOT BOXES IN SOME AREAS. BUT I THINK THE MAJOR PROBLEM HAS BEEN THE SLOWNESS AND CONFUSION DUE TO INADEQUATE TRAINING OF ELECTORAL OFFICIALS. NOW THIS IS SORT OF A CONTINUATION OF WHAT HAPPENED ON VOTING DAY; THE POLLS OPENED LATE THEY GOT UNDERWAY LATE. THE ELECTION OFFICIALS LEARNED BY DOING BECAUSE AGAIN OF INADEQUATE TRAINING BUT THE THING FINALLY GOT ROLLING AND IT WAS NOT TOO BAD ON ELECTION DAY FROM WHAT WE CAN SEE.

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MR. GOULD'S ASSESSMENT IS SHARED BY MANY OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONITORS WHO OBSERVED THE PROCESS. A COALITION OF CHURCH GROUPS KNOWN AS VOICES OF HAITI, WHICH MONITORED 200 POLLING PLACES AROUND THE COUNTRY SAY WHILE THEIR TEAMS WITNESSED IRREGULARITIES, HAITIAN ELECTION OFFICIALS WORKED HARD TO GUARANTEE THE INTEGRITY OF THE PROCESS. //END OPT//

HOWEVER OTHER INTERNATIONAL MONITORS DISAGREE. THE INTERNATIONAL REPUBLICAN INSTITUTE IS AN ELECTION MONITORING ORGANIZATION AFFILIATED WITH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE UNITED STATES. MONITORS FROM THE I-R-I SAY ANY RELIABLE COUNTING OF BALLOTS IS IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE OF WHAT I-R-I OFFICIALS DESCRIBE AS A TOTAL BREAKDOWN IN THE COLLECTION OF BALLOTS, AND THE ABSENCE OF ANY SUPERVISION IN SAFEGUARDING ELECTION MATERIALS.

AN I-R-I REPORT ISSUED SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE VOTE SAYS POST-ELECTION CONFUSION DWARFS PRE-ELECTION PROBLEMS. U.S. CONGRESSMAN PORTER GOSS IS A FLORIDA REPUBLICAN WHO LED THE I-R-I DELEGATION. EVEN BEFORE THE BALLOT COUNTING HAD FULLY GOTTEN UNDERWAY HE QUESTIONED THE INTEGRITY OF THE VOTING PROCESS.

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I WOULD SAY IT IS GOING TO BE IMPOSSIBLE TO VERIFY THE RESULTS OF THIS ELECTION. I THINK IT IS GOING TO BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO DO.

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U.S. OFFICIALS ACKNOWLEDGE BOTH THE BALLOTING AND THE COUNTING OF VOTES HAVE BEEN MARKED BY CONFUSION AND IN SOME CASES CHAOS BUT THEY SAY THE ELECTION RESULTS CAN BE VERIFIED. THEY SAY RACES WHICH HAVE BEEN CANCELLED CAN BE HELD ON JULY 23RD, THE DATE OF THE RUNOFF. THE JUNE 25TH ELECTIONS U.S. OFFICIALS SAY WERE THE MOST FREE AND LEAST BLOODY IN THE HAITI'S TURBULENT HISTORY.

FOR ITS PART HAITI'S GOVERNMENT SAYS THE ELECTIONS MARK A MAJOR STEP FORWARD FOR THE IMPOVERISHED CARRIBBEAN NATION. HAITI'S PRESIDENT JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE TOLD REPORTERS A FEW DAYS AFTER THE VOTE, MOST OF THE PROBLEMS WERE THE RESULT OF HAITIANS LACK OF EXPERIENCE WITH DEMOCRACY. THE VOTE HE SAYS WENT EXTRAORDINARILY WELL, DESPITE ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS. (SIGNED)

NEB/JLT/CB/ PT > > 30-Jun-95 8:45 PM EDT (0045 UTC) > NNNN > > Source: Voice of America > .