Haiti disqualifies 9 candidates for violence, inciting chaos during parliamentary elections

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti _ Electoral officials in Haiti have disqualified nine candidates for engaging in violence or inciting chaos during parliamentary elections.

Voters in the Aug. 9 election were filling two-thirds of the 30-member Senate and the entire 119-member Chamber of Deputies. It’s not clear if those disqualified won. Results haven’t been announced.

The nine disqualified by the Provisional Electoral Council include Senate candidate Arnel Belizaire. The former opposition member of the Chamber of Deputies is accused of firing a weapon in the air outside a polling station.

Belizaire has been an outspoken critic of the government of President Michel Martelly but he could not be reached for immediate comment following Tuesday’s announcement.

The Organization of American States said its monitors found scattered violence and irregularities but not enough to invalidate the results