Haiti cuts 2 more names from presidential candidate list

Haiti's electoral council has eliminated two more people from the list of presidential candidates, but voters will still have lots of choices: 56 people tentatively remain on the ballot.
The council issued a statement late last evening saying that Levelt Francois was ruled out because of a drug conviction in the U.S., while Jacky Lumarque was rejected because he had not received a discharge certificate from parliament certifying he had handled government funds appropriately when he ran a state education committee.
Neither Levelt nor Lumarque could be immediately reached for comment.
Another prominent candidate, former Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, was earlier barred from running for lack of a discharge certificate covering his time in office from 2012 until late 2014.

The first round of presidential elections takes place Oct. 25. A final round scheduled for Dec. 27.