Peer to Peer: How natural disasters affected the 2010 elections in Haiti

In this episode of Peer-to-Peer, we speak with David Towriss and Atsuko Hirakawa to learn more about compounding crises, and the effect of a Richter Scale-7 earthquake on an already vulnerable Haiti, Hurricane Tomas, and a cholera outbreak in Haiti and their postponed elections in 2010. This conversation is based on International IDEA’s case study but also Atsuko’s experience and knowledge on how Haiti’s election administrators implemented their 2016 elections after Hurricane Matthew.  

Guests: 

• David Towriss was previously a Research Assistant in the Electoral Processes Team at International IDEA and is currently an Associate Programme Officer at the Democracy Assessment Unit. 
• Atsuko Hirakawa is a Programme Officer at the Democracy Assessment Unit with previous experience in governance and electoral assistance, having worked in Port-au-Prince as a technical specialist for UNDP. 

Hosts: Heidi Park and Erik Asplund  

Background Reading: 

• The Impact of Natural Hazards on Haiti’s 2010 Presidential and Legislative Elections 
• Democracy Tracker – Haiti 
• Global State of Democracy Report 2022: Forging Social Contracts in a Time of Discontent 
• How hurricanes threaten U.S. elections and why more flexible voting is needed 
• Hurricane Matthew forces postponement of Haiti presidential elections 
• The Impact of Natural Hazards on Elections