Haitians began voting in a long-delayed presidential election on Sunday, hoping a new government will lift the economy after a devastating hurricane and more than a year of political instability. First held in October 2015, the election was annulled over allegations of fraud, and a rescheduled vote was postponed last month when Hurricane Matthew struck, killing up to 1,000 people and leaving 1.4 million in need of humanitarian assistance. Homes, schools and farms across southwestern Haiti all bear the scars of Matthew, which piled fresh misery onto the nation of more than 10 million on the western half of the island of Hispaniola still recovering from a major earthquake in 2010. “We are in a political crisis. We need an elected government to get out of this situation,” said 19-year-old Launes Delmazin as he voted for the first time in a school in Les Cayes, a southwestern port ravaged by Matthew last month.
Polling stations were due to open at 6 a.m. local time (1100 GMT), although some did not get started until later, and voters trickled in slowly at first.
Officials said the lingering effects of the hurricane and a bad weather forecast for Sunday risk depressing voter turnout in the poorest country in the western hemisphere, where democratic participation is generally low.
Weak turnout may undermine the legitimacy of the contest, which pits more than two dozen candidates in the race to succeed the former president, Michel Martelly, who left office in February. Since then, a caretaker government has run the island.
Full Article: Haiti holds long-awaited election still reeling from hurricane | Reuters.