Encouraging US government to encourage fair elections

Members of the US House of Representatives are circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter urging US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to encourage El Salvador's government to take steps which would make possible free and fair elections in 2009. The SHARE Foundation and other organizations are urging interested US citizens to contact their representatives and ask them to sign on to this letter.

From the SHARE website, some of the talking points for contacting Congress would be:
  • With the upcoming Municipal, Legislative Assembly, and Presidential elections that will take place in El Salvador on January 18th and March 15th, 2009, I believe the United States can help ensure that the 2009 Salvadoran elections are free, fair, and conducted under the most transparent conditions.
  • According to Salvadoran public opinion polls, 54.4% of the population has little or no faith in the 2009 electoral process, and 55% predict fraud in the upcoming elections.
  • These will be the most fiercely contested elections in Salvadoran history because the opposition party is leading in public opinion polls, which could lead to changes in long-established patterns of political control.
  • I respect the Salvadoran people's sovereign right to choose their leaders, and I believe the US State Department should encourage the Salvadoran government to:
  1. Encourage domestic and international observation of the entire electoral process;
  2. Urge political parties to stop the use of deceptive or misleading advertising that aims to sway voters' decisions based on fear and misinformation; and
  3. Carry out a comprehensive investigation of acts of political violence in the period leading up to elections, on Election Day, and during the post-election transition period.

More information about the letter can be found here. You can use this link for getting contact information for members of the House of Representatives.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I do not believe that neither the electoral system has great flaws that could be used to the advantage of ONLY one party.

Nor do I believe that either party could stick it to the other without there being enough checks and balances for the other party to be able to challenge, within the electoral system, the tricks of the other.

Neither does it seem, to me, that fraud could be done as it might have been done in the US with the gore bush election, by means of electronic/structural system failures.

But it does seem to me that a great and healthy dose of international -GENUINE AND IMPARCIAL AND ABOVE ALL DEMOCRATIC-electoral observers are needed, because if it comes down to hundreds of votes of difference and not hundreds of thousands, then the observers should be able to certify the winner.

Because the left will resort to things akin to nicaraguas recent election, violence, if they loose.

Mostly because of that.
David said…
Not only is US government supporting the idea of observers, they'll be funding a quick count to be carried out by IUDOP, FUNDE and ISD.