Counting is under way in Haiti’s long delayed election.<br />But the country’s electoral authorities don’t expect to have preliminary results for another eight days.<br /><br /> To safeguard voting in a country with a history of electoral violence, around 13,000 officers from the national police and the United Nations have been mobilized. <br /><br /> Haiti has been waiting to vote in a presidential poll since 2015, when an election was annulled over fraud allegations, and postponed last month when Hurricane Matthew hit. <br /><br /> Some pics from #Haitielections pic.twitter.com/6YR8r9USv9— Gerardo de Icaza (@gerardodeicaza) November 20, 2016<br /><br /> Although there have been a number of reports of voting irregularities, observers said the poll had been carried out smoothly.<br /><br /> There are more than two dozen candidates running to succeed former president Michel Martelly, who left the country in the hands of a caretaker government in February. <br /><br /> The main front runner is a local businessman, Jovenel Moise who is from the same party as Martelly.<br /><br /> Unless one candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote or wins by at least 25 percentage points, a second round run-off is in prospect for the top two finishers on Jan. 29. The victor is scheduled to take office in February.<br /><br /> It’s refreshing to see polling stations run by teams of women. This is in Cabaret. #HaitiElections pic.twitter.com/ZcSeEXwOqk— Nicole Phillips (@BuddhistLawyer) November 20, 2016<br /><br /> Whoever wins will have the task of tackling corruption and rebuilding the country devastated by the 2010 earthquake and last month’s hurricane which left more than a million people in need of humanitarian aid.<br />
