Absenteeism - Haiti Observer Blog

It is always good to ask questions and this particular questions is being discussed in many Haitian barber shops and parks where Haitians are gathered to play Dominos.

Just a quick history on the situation of North Miami Mayor Lucie Tondreau. Following her election as the new Mayor of North Miami this year, the election was contested by former mayor Kevin Burns, a former mayor himself but not of Haitian descent, on the ground that Lucie Tondreau did not meet residency requirement to run for office.

There is another level to the story. According to some of the supporters of Mayor Lucie Tondreau another former mayoral candidate, Dr. Smith Joseph, who happens to be Haitian-American, is also collaborating with the non Haitian-American Kevin Burns to remove Mayor Lucie Tondreau from office.

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For the third time in a matter of six months, the office of North Miami Mayor, Haitian born Lucie Tondreau, has been searched for evidence that would link her to fraudulent absentee-ballot requests suspected to have been submitted by her campaign earlier this year.

While Mayor Lucie Tondreau denies any involvement in such a scheme, Miami Beach police and prosecutors from the Miami-Dade area affirm that the IP address used to submit the online requests has been traced back to Tondreau and Associates, the mayor's North Miami public affairs consulting company. From the search was uncovered the identities of more than fifty people whose information was used for the requests, which were submitted for the mayoral runoff in June as well as for the first round of municipal elections a month before. These ballots were not mailed as, due to their dubious origins, they were flagged as wary.

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Haiti's legislative elections were to have taken place at the end of 2011, but have been stalled by the government of Haiti's (GOH) inability to decree a Permanent Electoral Council (PEC). Presently, a Temporary Electoral Council operates, but has no authority to hold elections.

At the center of the electoral crisis is a high rate of absenteeism occurring in Parliament. A quorum is necessary to carry on business, particularly appointing a PEC. Five senators are out campaigning for votes instead of doing legislative work, which includes appointing a PEC so "free, fair, and inclusive elections" can be held. Bureau Secretary Senator Steven Benoit released the senators' names to the press: Jean William Jeanty, Edwin Daniel Zenny, Wencesclass Lambert, Lucien Derex Pierre-Louis, and Maxime Roumer.

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