PORT AU PRINCE — Delays, excitement, shoving, arrests and accusations of fraud marked the morning of Haiti’s first election since January’s earthquake, as 18 candidates for president squared off for a chance to run the Western hemisphere’s poorest country as it tries to rebuild.
The polls here were supposed to open at 6 a.m. Sunday, but delays of several hours were common here in the capital as election workers struggled with voter lists and the so-called monitors hired by political parties to oversee the vote. Hundreds of these political workers, eager for a day of work that paid about $12, showed up early at polling locations across the city, scuffling for position as voters struggled to get through.
“It’s worse than usual,” said Lenonie Jean, 66, as she waited to cast her ballot at the Lycee Alexander Petion, a block from the demolished national cathedral.
