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Haitian Elections Postponed a Third Time
 Haiti's first elections since the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have been postponed for the third time this year, the interim prime minister said Thursday. The first round of the legislative and presidential vote will be Dec. 27 followed by a runoff Jan. 31, interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said in an interview with The Associated Press. The presidential elections were originally scheduled for Nov. 13, then postponed until Nov. 20. The government said they would have to be delayed again, and Latortue had given timeframe of Dec. 11-18. The new date is "firm and final," he said."We took our time to fix a date, but now we are fully confident we will achieve good elections," Latortue said. "All the problems have been anticipated, and we have a solution for each of them." Haiti's constitution requires the new government to take control Feb. 7, but the country has struggled to organize the election because of a lack of equipment and trained poll workers, crumbling infrastructure, and violence that has made it difficult to register voters. Posted by: Fred 2005-11-18 |
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