In Haiti, tire barricades burn in few spots as presidential candidate alleges electoral fraud

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti _(AP) One of Haiti‘s top presidential candidates insists that ballots checked with his name are being destroyed or discarded, prompting supporters to burn tire barricades in parts of the country’s capital.

Former Sen. Moise Jean-Charles is the candidate of the Petit Dessalines faction. He’s considered one of a few major candidates in first-round elections held Sunday.

With official preliminary results still days away, his supporters claim they discovered partially burned ballots in Port-au-Prince and say ballots have gone missing elsewhere.

Jean-Charles’ camp has been doing its own calculations and he insisted Thursday he dominated voting in half of Haiti‘s 10 departments.

Jean-Charles accuses the government-backed candidate’s team of trying to steal the elections.

A spokesman for the Tet Kale party of outgoing President Michel Martelly dismissed the allegations as “fiction.”