After a campaign period pockmarked with violence, Haiti’s long delayed elections are finally taking place amid a “climate of terror,” according to one human rights group. Voting began at 6am (10:00 GMT) on Sunday, with elections held for the chamber of deputies and two-thirds of the senate that have been repeatedly delayed since 2011. Polling stations will close at 4pm. Aljazeera was there:
A presidential poll is set for October 25, in a nation where President Michel Martelly, who is barred from running again by the constitution, has been ruling by decree.
Nearly six million eligible voters in this mountainous country of 10.3 million are choosing 119 deputies and 20 senators from 1,855 candidates registered from 128 political parties.
According to Haiti’s electoral system, one-third of the senate is supposed to be renewed every two years, but following the cancellation of elections to the senate in 2012, two thirds of the seats are now up for grabs. The fragile democratic system was further weakened in January, when the country’s parliament dissolved after failed negotiations over a new electoral law and left Martelly ruling by decree.
