Haiti president says postponed runoff vote slated for Jan 17

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Haiti president says postponed runoff vote slated for Jan 17

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian President Michel Martelly has announced that a postponed presidential runoff vote will be held on Jan. 17.

Martelly says he received two letters from Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council warning that to fulfill the constitutional mandate of inaugurating a new president on Feb. 7, the runoff should be held by Jan. 17 at the latest.

On Friday, Martelly called on Haitians "to vote en masse, like they should, for the person who best represents them."

The council earlier postponed the Dec. 27 presidential runoff to allow a five-member commission to address allegations of multiple voting and ballot tampering.

The opposition is demanding an independent review of the late October first round of voting which it insists was rigged in favor of government-backed candidate Jovenel Moise. Jude Celestin came in second.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-01-02