Despite accusations of fraud, manipulation, threats of violence and general despair caused by a cholera epidemic, Haitians are making extra efforts to get out the vote in Sunday's presidential election. The police station in the Petion-Ville area of Port-au-Prince buzzed with activity. The office distributing new identity cards had barely opened, and more than 1,000 people were lined up around the building.
Trucks passed by with loudspeakers blaring music, urging votes for one or another candidate and passing out election materials. Just hours before the election, there were thousands of identity documents left to be distributed. Anxiety is palpable. Some people were upset because they had come to the station several times and left empty-handed.
Christian Castro rifles through bundles of cards held together by rubber bands in boxes ordered alphabetically to find one for a woman with a receipt proving that she registered in time. The young Honduran is co-ordinator of the project to modernise Haiti's land registry, being conducted by the Organisation of American States. That job has nothing to do with the elections, but he said he felt compelled "to lend a hand" in the controlled chaos of distributing the identity cards.
He explained that in recent weeks an average of 25,000 documents a day had been distributed nation-wide. At the Petion-Ville office, there were still 4,000 of the 7,000 that had been sought in the district. "We'll be distributing them up until the last minute," he said without stopping his search. "We don't want to be left with any cards here. We are trying to find the quickest way to do it."
Castro recognised the slow pace was creating frustration among the population. In spite of the calls from various parties to boycott the election, Haitians appeared enthusiastic about voting, if they can.
Adela Felix arrived in the wee hours of the morning and was one of the first to be attended to. Even so, a few hours later, she was still waiting for her documents. But she said she wasn't losing hope, or her desire to vote. "The country needs change," she sighed. Junior and Natasha Pierre, brother and sister, waited for their documents, which are vital for many other needs, such as opening bank accounts or applying for passports. But they said their priority was to participate in the election.
"It is very important to vote," Junior Pierre said, expressing hope that "a different country" would emerge afterward. Natasha Pierre said she would vote but seemed less convinced about change, confessing that she didn't hold out "too much hope." Dominique Russo, a Haitian businessman of Italian origin, waited far back in the line on his third attempt to register. But he said he would persist because voting was "the only democratic way to achieve change."
The feeling was echoed by Wyclef Jean, the Haitian-born, US-based musician who failed in his attempt to register as a presidential candidate. "I came because I wanted to show the Haitian people that your true right is this card, so if you want things to change, you have to go ahead and exercise this right," he said. "We must take our destiny back into our own hands with a sovereign government chosen by ourselves," he said. "That is what elections are for. That is why voting is our duty as well as our right."