The United States welcomes the announcement of the Haitian Presidential Decree calling on the people of Haiti to participate in the second round of the presidential election and remaining legislative elections on January 24.
A Haitian commission created by President Michel Martelly on December 22, was tasked with probing the country's disputed October 25 presidential election. While the commission's report noted that the first-round vote was impacted by irregularities, it indicated that a final run-off could still take place.
The report called for greater transparency, including a national dialogue, an analysis of the vote to determine the extent of the irregularities and fraud, and changes in the electoral process. A number of these recommendations were also noted by other international electoral observation missions during the course of the current electoral cycle.
According to official results, government-backed candidate Jovenel Moise received 32.76 percent of the vote after the first round of voting, and Jude Celestin, the former head of the state construction agency, garnered 25.29 percent.
U.S. State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said, the U.S. "looks[s] forward to the completion of the electoral process and encourage[s] all Haitians to participate peacefully and calmly in the vote. This is the opportunity for the Haitian people to have their voice heard regarding the future leader of their country. To that end," the U.S. "urge[s] everyone to ensure transparency and credibility in the fundamental democratic process."
The United States and Haiti’s other international partners urge state institutions and political actors to take all steps necessary to ensure a free and fair process that results in a peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected President by the constitutionally mandated date of February 7.
The United States reaffirms its commitment to working with the Provisional Electoral Council and Haiti’s international partners in support of fair, credible, and secure elections that reflect the will of the Haitian people. The United States looks forward to working with the next democratically-elected government on the many challenges facing Haiti and its people.
