Haiti to hold presidential election in November

The Provisional Electoral Council made the announcement on Friday, not long after Hurricane Matthew forced the country to cancel the election to be held in early October.

The category four hurricane hit the Caribbean country on October 4, eventually killing at least 546 people, according to Haiti's civil protection agency. The havoc caused by the storm also led many registered voters to lose their voter registration cards.

Haiti has been repeatedly delaying the presidential election since last year's election was annulled. Jovenel Moise, a member of ex-President Michel Martelly's party, won the election's first round, but the results were disputed by the losing candidates.

Anger over the results led to violent unrest in the streets, which in turn led to the second-round run-off election being called off in spite of US pressure to go through with the vote.

Missing votes

In June, Haiti's electoral council set October 9 to be the new date to elect the country's president, arguing that the previous election had been tainted by more than 600,000 untraceable votes.

The new run-off election is set to take place on January 8, 2017.

Jocelerme Privert, who was chosen to serve as Hait's interim president after Martelly stepped down, said he would remain in power until a new president was elected.

Twenty-seven candidates are vying for the presidency in the country, which was already suffering from food shortages and the fallout of a devastating earthquake in 2010 before Matthew hit.

blc/bw (AP, AFP)