[JURIST] Jacques Bernard, head of Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council [official website], has fled the country in fear of his life two weeks after heavily disputed elections [JURIST report] returned President Rene Preval [Wikipedia profile] to office. Preval opponents threatened Bernard's life and burned down and looted his farmhouse over the weekend. Bernard is reported to have left the country on Sunday, possibly traveling to Miami.

Bernard was appointed to Haiti's electoral council three months ago to bring order to the council. Many, however, became outraged after votes were counted in the February 7 election [JURIST report]. Preval received more than four times the number of votes of any of his opponents, and he was declared the winner [JURIST report] after the electoral council decided to divide 85,000 blank ballots among the candidates in proportion to the votes they had already received. AP has more.

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