Haiti slowly begins tally after low-turnout vote

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Apr 22 (Reuters) Haiti slowly began to collect tally sheets today after a parliamentary election that drew few voters but avoided most of the violence that has marred past attempts at democracy.

UN troops began bringing tally sheets back from remote towns and villages to the vote counting center in the capital Port-au-Prince, said Max Mathurin, head of the Provisional Electoral Council in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

''Some have already arrived at the tabulation center but we probably won't start talking about figures till Monday,'' Mathurin told Reuters.

Yesterday's second-round vote to pick 97 of 99 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 30 senators will decide whether President-elect Rene Preval, who won a first-round victory on February 7, will have enough sway with parliament and the next prime minister to govern effectively.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has been afflicted by dictatorships, political violence and poverty for most of its 202 years.

Preval's predecessor as president, former Roman Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was ousted in February 2004 while facing an armed revolt amid accusations of corruption and despotism.

Haiti has been run since then by an unelected interim authority while UN troops and police have tried to maintain peace between Aristide's supporters in the sprawling slums and the wealthy elite, who opposed him and now also harbor deep suspicions about Preval.

One person was shot dead on Friday by a relative who supported a rival candidate, police said. Turnout was extremely low at an estimated 15 per cent of registered voters, European Union electoral observers said.

The sporadic reports of scuffles and demonstrations reported by election officials suggested a relatively problem-free election compared to past ballots, when gunmen massacred voters as they stood in line.

Many people complained they had been turned away from voting stations because they had been registered in other districts. It was unclear how widespread the problem was.

Voters and politicians also complained that polling stations closed on time at 4 pm During the first-round election in February, huge crowds persuaded authorities to keep some voting centers open into the evening and many Haitians said they had expected the same to happen this time.

''This is a flagrant violation of the citizen's civil and political rights,'' said Renan Hedouville, head of the Lawyers Committee for Individual Rights, also known as CARLI.

''This was a well-planned strategy by authorities together with the electoral council to prevent a group of people from participating in the runoff,'' he said.

Hedouville suggested that a low turnout would hurt the chances Preval supporters because much of their support came from the poor.

REUTERS SK RAI0134