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Cheryl Mills: Please Listen to the Haitian People!

There is a simple thing that everyone can do to help Haitian voters get the stable, credible government they need to lead the reconstruction: sign the petition asking the U.S. State Department to withdraw their support for the exclusive and fraudulent electoral process that has generated nothing but anger and civil unrest in Haiti.

It is not too late for the United States to change course and support fair elections in Haiti. On Friday, Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills conceded that the United States would consider new elections if an OAS report recommended it. Press reports claim that the OAS will not recommend new elections, but we can tell Chief of Staff Mills that she should listen to Haitian voters, not OAS functionaries.

Do your part by signing the petition below!
Dear Chief of Staff Mills:

For the last two years, the Haitian people have been telling us that they will only accept fair, inclusive elections. When the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) illegally excluded Fanmi Lavalas , Haiti’s most popular political party from Senate elections in 2009, over 90% of the voters refused to participate in the charade. When the Council illegally excluded 15 parties (including Fanmi Lavalas) from the legislative elections and 15 candidates from the Presidential elections held last November 28, human rights groups and political parties across the spectrum protested, parties boycotted, and over 75% of voters refused to participate. On election day, when over 100,000 registered voters did not receive their voting cards, an uncounted multitude could not find their voting center and the fraud was rampant, people took to the streets to reject the elections.

The international community has not listened to the Haitian people. Instead, the United States, United Nations and others have provided generous financial, logistical and political support to the flawed elections.

The imposition of an unpopular government on Haiti will not work. The protests that shut Haiti down for much of December will likely continue as long as any government resulting from the unfair November 28 elections is in power. This in turn will hobble the urgently needed work of earthquake reconstruction and fighting cholera, for as long as five years.

It does not matter how the November 28 votes are apportioned –they will always be the results from a restricted group of voters choosing from a restricted group of candidates. The top three vote-getters collectively received the support of less than 15% of Haitian voters. That is not the fair election that the Haitian people need. Haiti’s voters must be allowed to freely choose their leaders in a new, fair election run by a new, credible Electoral Council.

The Haitian people have been insisting on fair elections, through boycotts, protests, reports, analyses and the press, but the international community refuses to listen. They will keep trying until they find a language we will listen to. In the meantime, Haitians will die of cholera and starve in the tent cities. The United States can stop this needless suffering by joining the Haitian people’s insistence on fair and inclusive elections. I urge you to immediately announce that the United States will provide no more support to the current CEP and will not recognize any government resulting from this CEP’s elections.

Sincerely,

Optional Member Code

This petition has a goal of 5000 signatures
1-25 of 3139 signatures
Number Date Name Location
3139 Tue Jan 18 20:44:17 EST 2011 Andrew Wieber Chicago, IL
3138 Tue Jan 18 01:08:31 EST 2011 Nancy Newell Portland, OR
3137 Tue Jan 18 00:17:52 EST 2011 David Stout Albuquerque, NM
3136 Tue Jan 18 00:07:52 EST 2011 Kossia Orloff Pittsboro, NC
3135 Mon Jan 17 23:51:10 EST 2011 Wanda Ballentine Eagan, MN
3134 Mon Jan 17 23:47:36 EST 2011 Calvin Fuqua Camano Island, WA
3133 Mon Jan 17 23:46:49 EST 2011 James Gibson Sea Çliff, NY
3132 Mon Jan 17 23:35:40 EST 2011 Lucila Sanchez Bronx, NY
3131 Mon Jan 17 23:15:15 EST 2011 Ken Tharp Fort Collins,, CO
3130 Mon Jan 17 23:06:34 EST 2011 deanna rosen slc, UT
3129 Mon Jan 17 22:50:44 EST 2011 Rebecca Gray Price, UT
3128 Mon Jan 17 22:49:19 EST 2011 Julia Estes Birmingham, AL
3127 Mon Jan 17 22:49:03 EST 2011 Laurel Tanza Watsonville , CA
3126 Mon Jan 17 22:41:35 EST 2011 Jonathan Baker MATTITUCK, NY
3125 Mon Jan 17 22:36:25 EST 2011 Ed Briody New York, NY
3124 Mon Jan 17 22:33:31 EST 2011 Anonymous
3123 Mon Jan 17 22:30:18 EST 2011 Blair Campbell Elsah, IL
3122 Mon Jan 17 22:28:19 EST 2011 Nancy Chevalier Portland, OR
3121 Mon Jan 17 22:27:12 EST 2011 judith wittner Evanston, IL
3120 Mon Jan 17 22:17:53 EST 2011 Mike Walkingstick Mountain View, CA
3119 Mon Jan 17 22:12:26 EST 2011 Hugh Sanborn Fort Collins, CO
3118 Mon Jan 17 22:01:18 EST 2011 Walter Sherwood Davis, CA
3117 Mon Jan 17 22:00:43 EST 2011 Emily Baneman New York, NY
3116 Mon Jan 17 22:00:06 EST 2011 Christopher Fasano New York, NY
3115 Mon Jan 17 21:50:29 EST 2011 Dorothy Dean Sante Fe, NM
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