Prometheus 6

I got this from Reuters.

Brazil, which heads a peacekeeping force of 9,000 U.N. troops and police, brokered the deal to distribute 85,000 "blank" votes, which showed no choice for president out of the 33 candidates, proportionately among the contenders.

The blanks, amounting to 4.7 percent of the total, had been included in accordance with the law and reduced the final percentage allocated to each candidate.

With 90 percent of the ballots counted, Preval had been at 48.7 percent -- below the simple majority he needed to avoid a March 19 runoff and outraging his supporters.

Many Haitians were suspicious of the large number of blank votes, saying they could not imagine people trekking miles (km) to polling stations simply to leave their ballots unmarked.

The U.N. mission sent to maintain the peace in Haiti has also acknowledged that partisan election workers could have stuffed ballot boxes with blank ballots.

The agreement over the blank votes lifted Preval's share to 50.9 percent.