Haitian president appeals for non-violence in ongoing legislative elections

Haiti's President Michel Martelly appealed to "everyone to vote peacefully" as the long-delayed legislative elections have been affected by a series of incidents including gunfire and violent attacks on polling stations Sunday.

Haiti has a population of over 10 million. A total of 5,838,746 Haitian citizens have been registered to vote at the 13,725 polling stations available, to choose 20 senators and 118 representatives in the first round of legislative elections.

As the term of President Mihcel Martelly is to be up in May 2016, the presidential election is scheduled for Dec. 27.

More than 4,000 electoral agents and 9,000 police have been deployed to provide security, but violence still could not be stopped.

Many polling stations have allegedly been attacked by men armed with stones and guns. And at least five polling stations in Port-au-Prince had to be closed due to violence, broadcaster Radio Metropole reported.

In his Twitter account, Haiti's President Michel Martelly urged citizens to reject violence and he called on "everyone to vote peacefully" because "every vote counts."

This is the first legislative election in 4 years in Haiti. The Haitian Parliament is made up of the 99-member Chamber of Representatives and the 30-seat Senate. The Senate elections were scheduled for March 2011 but were canceled due to the Senate opposition refused to allow a vote on new rules to form an electoral commission. Local and municipal elections in Haiti have also been delayed since 2010.

The Haitian Parliament has been non-functional since January 2015, when periods of all senators and Representatives expired.