Banks and stores closed early and people rushed to get home in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday as Haitians feared unrest with the expected announcement of final results from the disputed presidential election.

The provisional electoral commission was scheduled to announce which two of the three front-running candidates from the November ballot would get spots in a March runoff.

A man has his shoes shined near a wall covered with election campaign posters in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday. (Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press)Preliminary results showing government-backed candidate Jude Celestin edging popular singer Michel (Sweet Micky) Martelly set off often violent protests in December. Those figures were released late in the evening in a failed effort to head off unrest.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew to Port-au-Prince on Sunday to meet with all three candidates and reaffirm in person to President René Préval that Washington backed an Organization of American States report recommending that Celestin be dropped from the race.

Rumours of cancellation

But on Tuesday, rumours spread through the capital that the report would be rejected, either by putting Celestin in the next round or cancelling the election.

Annulling the election outright could also ruin the advantage of first-place candidate Mirlande Manigat, a conservative former first lady whose supporters have protested violently in her favour, mainly in the countryside.

"Haiti awaits the final presidential results with trepidation," Radio Kiskeya said on its website. Radio Metropole said, "Nobody knows what will happen during these next few hours, which may be crucial for the future of the country."

The U.S. Embassy issued an alert for U.S. citizens warning of the "potential for elections-related violence throughout Haiti for the duration of the elections period."

The Nov. 28 first round included widespread disorganization, violence, intimidation, fraud and a call on election day from nearly every candidate — including Martelly and Manigat — to cancel the vote while it was going on.

An OAS team recommended that recalculating the results based on estimates of fraud would create a Manigat-Martelly faceoff in the runoff.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tuesday night that officials in Washington were awaiting the results.

"We certainly reiterate our strong desire that the results reflect the will of the Haitian people and then enable Haiti to move on with the follow-on elections that they've already announced for next month," he said.

Term ends Monday

Préval's five-year term is scheduled to end Monday under the constitution. An emergency law passed by members of his former party in an expiring Senate would allow him to remain in office for up to three more months, in part because his 2006 inauguration was delayed.

If Préval steps down as scheduled, the Haitian constitution says the highest-ranking member of Haiti's supreme court would take over the country pending an election to be held no fewer than 45 days and no more than 90 days later. The court's presidency is currently vacant.

The situation is further complicated by the recent return of ousted dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier after 25 years of exile and discussions surrounding a potential return by exiled former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, whose party was not allowed to participate in the election.

Protesters called for his return in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.