By Alex. Manda PORT-AU-PRINCE, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Haitian voters are ready to cast their ballots Sunday to choose a new president amid chaos wrought by an ongoing cholera epidemic and growing international concerns over deadly election-related violence. Clashes between rival political factions have recently been escalating in the impoverished country, already ravaged by a catastrophic earthquake in January. At least two people were killed Monday in clashes between the followers of Haitian presidential candidates Charles Henry Baker and Jude Celestin in the Grande-Anse zone of west Haiti. The Joint Electoral Observation Mission, made up of officials from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (Caricom), said Friday in a statement that clashes have 'darkened the final days of the electoral campaign.' The mission reminded the presidential candidates, political parties and coalitions that the Electoral Conduct Code, a document signed by all participants, commits signatories to promoting a climate of tolerance during the campaign. It includes ruling out the use of verbal or physical aggression, and firearms, the mission said, calling on the participants to respect the rights of rival parties and their sympathizers. The mission also called on the Haitian National Police to pledge all-out efforts to stem the increasing violence and take effective measures to prevent clashes. Despite the violence, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah) said Friday that everything is ready for the general election. Gaillot Dorsinvil, president of the Provisional Electoral Council, said the council has rejected calls to postpone the elections due to the cholera epidemic. 'Postponing elections would be killing the nation,' he said, adding the election presents no risk to existing epidemic response plans. About a week ago, four presidential candidates -- Josette Bijou, Gerard Blot, Garaudy Laguerre and Wilson Jeudy -- requested the Haitian authorities to delay the presidential and legislative elections so as to give priority to fighting the cholera epidemic. Prominent candidates, however, have urged holding the elections as scheduled to avoid further political instability in the country. Health experts fear that cholera could quickly spread due to the poor sanitary conditions in this island country where the epidemic, first reported in October, has so far claimed more than 1,600 lives. So far, some 4.7 million Haitian voters have registered to choose a new president to replace incumbent Rene Preval, from among 18 candidates, as well as 11 senators and 99 deputies. According to a poll released by the Information Technology and Social and Economic Development Office, candidate of Haiti's Group of Nationalist Democratic Mirlande Manigat, 70-year-old former first lady, led the polls of voting intention with 36 percent support rate. Jude Celestin, candidate of the ruling party, ran second with 20 percent, while singer Michel 'Sweet Micky' Martelly ran third with 14 percent of voting intentions. 