Here’s the CliffsNotes version: Yesterday the country’s first post-quake elections were held. By midday, most of the 18 candidates banded together to denounce the vote, claiming that the government was fixing the race in favor of the candidate from President Rene Preval’s party. The government says ballots were only destroyed at 3.5 percent of polling stations, so the vote stands. Today, some protesters in Port-au-Prince are blocking roads and setting stuff on fire; supporters of Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly, a popular musician, are getting teargassed. Unfortunately, the ugliness has a long time to escalate: Results aren’t expected for more than a week. And things are likely to get worse before they get better. “The people,” one of my Haitian friends texted me this morning, “want Preval’s head.”
