UN troops moved ballots by helicopter and mule across rural Haiti and the front-runner danced in a village square on Wednesday after the country?s first presidential election since Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted two years ago.

Vote counting moved into high gear but election authorities did not release any official results on Wednesday. They said they might have a few results on Thursday but a more complete vote count would take at least another two days.

Tensions ran high and at least four people died in election-day incidents but a feared explosion of violence failed to materialize as Haitians cast ballots on Tuesday in what could prove the latest election to trouble Washington.

US officials pressed Aristide to quit Haiti after a month-long armed revolt in 2004 only to find his one-time ally René Preval the election favorite.

Preval, who retreated to his northern hometown of Marmalade for the election, ventured into the town square on Wednesday and danced to a bolero song played by a local band with villagers cheering him on.

Counters worked overnight by candlelight

There was no widespread election bloodshed in a country that has seen repeated coups and into which US troops have been sent three times in the past century. Haiti was plagued by kidnappings and gang violence in the months before the vote and one of the dead on Tuesday was a policeman killed by a mob after he shot someone.

The United Nations and Organization of American States said the election appeared to be a step forward in impoverished Haiti?s quest to establish a stable democracy after years of dictatorship and military rule.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised Haitians for a relatively calm vote and appealed to them to respect the results.

?As the new authorities assume their responsibilities, it will be essential that all political and social actors come together in a spirit of national reconciliation and dialogue ...,? he said in a statement issued in New York.

Counters worked overnight by candlelight to tally votes in places where there was no power. Mules retrieved ballots from remote villages and helicopters were used to fly them to the capital, UN officials said.

A tally of 20 polling stations in a trash-strewn warehouse near the Cite Soleil slum produced an expected result ? 75 percent for ex-president Preval. His top rivals, former President Leslie Mangiest and industrialist Chorales Baker, had 10 and 3 percent respectively.

The sample of about 3,700 votes was likely not representative because it was so close to a Preval stronghold.

But even a couple of polling stations in Petionville, the Port-au-Prince suburb where many of Haiti?s wealthy live, appeared to have gone heavily for Preval, 63, who led Haiti from 1996 to 2001, between Aristide?s two presidencies.

Preval, who is opposed by the elites who helped push Aristide into exile in South Africa in 2004, must capture more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff on March 19.

In an election carried out under the watchful eyes of some 9,000 UN peacekeepers, many poor voters cried fraud when polling stations near the Cite Soleil slum failed to open on time, reinforcing concerns that the authorities would try to prevent slum residents from voting.

Under the watchful eyes of UN peacekeepers

Businessman Baker, who ran second in opinion polls, said the election had ?a lot of problems,? citing late openings and reports that some people voted more than once. The turnout was among the best in the short democratic history of the poorest country in the Americas, officials said.

Some voters said the heavy turnout proved the people of Haiti ? beset by poverty, violence and political turmoil ? desperately wanted democracy despite their nation?s struggles since the brutal Duvalier family dictatorship ended in 1986.

Critics accused Aristide of corruption and despotism during his second term but he remains popular in the slums. Preval has gained the support of many Aristide loyalists.

PRELIMINARY RESULTS

René Preval is leading the polls

■ Counting began shortly after polls closed on Tuesday (February 07), but officials have said the winner might not be known for days. ?Things are getting back to normal and regarding the vote counting, we are happy and we will keep following the vote counting process,? said the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza. International observers said the vote was relatively clean and non violent, despite some scuffles and disturbances that broke out when voting centres opened late. UN troops continued to patrol the streets on Wednesday as the counting continued and Haiti awaited preliminary results.

The turnout was among the best for any election in the short democratic history of the poorest country in the Americas, officials said. Former president and Aristide ally Rene Preval is expected to win the election. Preval in one of 33 candidates and must capture more than 50 percent of the votes to avoid a runoff on March 19.

The President of Port-au-Prince?s Chamber of Commerce said that the tally so far has Preval ahead.

?It is clear that Preval is leading the polls. He?s leading the election right now. Whether or not he?s going to be able to go over the fifty percent plus one that is required is the million dollar question in this country today,? said Reginald Boulos. The election, delayed several times since November by problems registering 3.5 million voters and hiring thousands of poll workers, brought hordes from the slums where Aristide, now exiled in South Africa, was largely supported.