Foreign observers to audit US election

[MKSheppard]

Linky

Foreign observers to audit election
By Joseph Curl
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published August 7, 2004

The Bush administration has invited a team of international monitors to observe the U.S. presidential election in November, but the group will not come from the United Nations, as some congressional Democrats had urged.

Assistant Secretary of State Paul V. Kelly, who handles legislative affairs for the department, affirmed the invitation this week in a letter to 13 House Democrats. They had requested U.N. monitors for this year's elections in an effort to avoid the charges of disenfranchisement and voting irregularities that plagued the 2000 election, the closest in history.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the largest regional organization in the world with 55 participating nations, will monitor the U.S. election on Nov. 2. Members include Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United States.

"OSCE members, including the United States, agreed in 1990 in Copenhagen to allow fellow members to observe elections in one another's countries," Mr. Kelly wrote. "Consistent with this commitment, the United States has already invited the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to observe the November 2, 2004, presidential elections."

The OSCE, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, has deployed observers to more than 150 elections in Europe and around the world, according to Urdur Gunnarsdottir, spokeswoman for the ODIHR. She said the observer team would arrive in September to plan how to monitor the election, including how many observers to send and where to deploy them.

OSCE officials deployed an observer team to monitor the most recent U.S. elections, on Nov. 5, 2002.

She said the OSCE does not have authority over the election results in any way. "We don't give them a yes or a no or grade them," she said. "But we monitor, we publicize what we see. You can call it political pressure."

The Democrats who had pushed for U.N. involvement applauded the move, saying it may help avoid what they say was disenfranchisement of voters during the 2000 election in Florida and other states.

"This represents a step in the right direction toward ensuring that this year's elections are fair and transparent," said Rep. Barbara Lee, California Democrat. "I am pleased that the State Department responded by acting on this need for international monitors. We sincerely hope that the presence of the monitors will make certain that every person's voice is heard, every person's vote is counted."

She said that filmmaker Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" showed "that the 2000 presidential elections were rife with deception and fraud."

"Our elections certainly should be fair and free and transparent, and we know the last election was not," she added.
According to Votewatch 2004.org, 4 million to 6 million voters "were voiceless in the 2000 elections due to faulty equipment and confusing ballots (1.5 million to 2 million), registration mix-ups (1.5 million to 3 million), polling-place operations (up to 1 million), absentee-ballot problems (unknown)."

The Justice Department said in May 2002 it had concluded that the vast majority of Floridians were not denied their right to vote during the 2000 presidential elections, and that the few problems that did exist could not have affected President Bush's victory.

"The Civil Rights Division found no credible evidence in our investigations that Floridians were intentionally denied their right to vote during the November 2000 election," Assistant Attorney General Ralph Boyd wrote in a letter to Capitol Hill.

Two separate media recounts concluded that Mr. Bush carried Florida and, therefore, won the election. But Democrats, especially black leaders such as Jesse Jackson, continue to charge that blacks were disenfranchised and that Mr. Bush "stole" the election through a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Thirteen Democrats in the House first sent a letter in July to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan asking that the world body monitor the U.S. election. But under U.N. guidelines, the official written request for electoral assistance must come from a representative of the "member state" or "national electoral authorities" -- meaning the Bush administration itself, not the legislature.

The GOP-controlled House last month passed an amendment to a foreign-aid bill barring federal officials from using money to ask the United Nations to observe the Nov. 2 election. Rep. Steve Buyer, Indiana Republican and sponsor of the amendment, fiercely opposed U.N. participation.

"For over 200 years, this nation has conducted elections fairly and impartially, ensuring that each person's vote will count. ... Imagine going to your polling place on the morning of November 2 and seeing blue-helmeted foreigners inside your local library, school or fire station. The United Nations has sent monitors to Haiti, Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique ... and now the United States?" Mr. Buyer said on July 15.

"The constitutional authority to ensure the integrity of U.S. elections rests with the states and the Congress. ... This amendment merely seeks to keep it that way," he added.

The Democrats then requested monitors through the State Department in a letter to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

"I am pleased that Secretary Powell is as committed as I am to a fair and democratic process," Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas Democrat, said after the State Department announced it would allow observers. "The presence of monitors will assure Americans that America cares about their votes and it cares about its standing in the world."

Mr. Bush also weighed in yesterday on the subject during a question-and-answer period at the Unity minority journalists convention in Washington.

"Look, I can understand why African Americans, in particular, are worried about being able to vote, since the vote had been denied for so long in the South, in particular. I understand that. And this administration wants everybody to vote," Mr. Bush said.

"Just don't focus on Florida. Now, I'll talk to the governor down there to make sure it works," he said to laughter, referring to his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush. "But it's the whole country. ... Voter-registration files need to be updated, the machines need to work. And that's why there's $3 billion in the budget to help. ... Obviously, everybody ought to have a vote."

[Stormbringer]

Whiskey tango foxtrot, over.

[Xon]

It says something bad about your electoral system if you need foreign observers to audit the election process...

[Stormbringer]

It says something bad about your electoral system if you need foreign observers to audit the election process...

Think (and hope) it's mostly a matter of formality rather than worry about banna republic-esque ballot stuffing.

[BlkbrryTheGreat]

We can't have foreign observers, it'll affect the turnout of the cemetary vote!

[desertjedi]

I'm thinking Bush did it as a compromise to the Democrats that wanted the UN in. I don't agree with it, but I thikn the UN even said they would be unable to provide the manpower needed to watch the election.

[Boyish-Tigerlilly]

Aren't they adults. Can't they have their own election?

[PainRack]

Is this a spoof? Cause, didn't the Onion and several other news satire websites carry the equivalent a few months back?

Please tell me its a joke.

[TheDarkling]

Must... Not... Snigger.

[MKSheppard]

As someone commented on another board; this is probably an end run
by Karl Rove to head off any possibility of the Kerry camp screaming
and going to the courts if the election is close (again)

[Xon]

It says something bad about your electoral system if you need foreign observers to audit the election process...

Think (and hope) it's mostly a matter of formality rather than worry about banna republic-esque ballot stuffing.

You would hope so, but with the utter fuckup that is the eVoting system they plan on using(which is imposible to audit due to the design...) and the acknowledgment by the current administration in the USA that the last election had some seriously dodgy stuff happening, I dont have great hopes.

[SirNitram]

*Snort, giggle* How low the mighty have fallen...

[Stravo]

I am so fucking vexed by this. This is what we've come to...Christ.

[SecondStorm]

Probably a good idea considering the row there were the last time the children played election.

[RogueIce]

*Snort, giggle* How low the mighty have fallen...

Last time I checked, you lived in West Virginia. You may have deluded yourself into thinking otherwise, but you're still one of us.

[SirNitram]

*Snort, giggle* How low the mighty have fallen...

Last time I checked, you lived in West Virginia. You may have deluded yourself into thinking otherwise, but you're still one of us.

Nope. Still not a US citizen, still not a native born, still not an American. You can yell and scream about me being here, but as is plainly apparent by my twisted worldview, the cultural assimilation failed, for better or worse. Why don't you piss off instead of trying to tell me what I am, you little annoyance? This may shock you, but that's something I can say with utter certainty I know better than you.

[SirNitram]

I am so fucking vexed by this. This is what we've come to...Christ.

As much as I would like to make more jokes(And I will, but..)..

Stravo, try not to worry. Democracy and, to a lesser extent, humanity, are self-correcting. Sure, you've currently got an election coming up with a lying, conniving simian whose trying to destroy your rights, against a man who is the definition of the words 'apathy inducing', and it's being overseen by outsiders to make sure you can actually govern yourselves.. But trust me, republics have fallen on much worse fates. And they came back out of it. And given the pace the world moves these days, it won't be one of those 'descents into darkness for four hundred years' deals.

As a wise woman once told me, This Too, Shall Pass.

Now, stop being so goddamn upset so I can enjoy mocking the situation!

[RogueIce]

Nope. Still not a US citizen, still not a native born, still not an American. You can yell and scream about me being here, but as is plainly apparent by my twisted worldview, the cultural assimilation failed, for better or worse. Why don't you piss off instead of trying to tell me what I am, you little annoyance? This may shock you, but that's something I can say with utter certainty I know better than you.

So wait, you aren't a citizen?

Well, fuck, I was lied to. My mistake.

[RogueIce]

Nope. Still not a US citizen, still not a native born, still not an American. You can yell and scream about me being here, but as is plainly apparent by my twisted worldview, the cultural assimilation failed, for better or worse. Why don't you piss off instead of trying to tell me what I am, you little annoyance? This may shock you, but that's something I can say with utter certainty I know better than you.

So wait, you aren't a citizen?

Well, fuck, I was lied to. My mistake.

And damn the lack of edit. I was just trying to make a joke earlier.

[SirNitram]

Nope. Still not a US citizen, still not a native born, still not an American. You can yell and scream about me being here, but as is plainly apparent by my twisted worldview, the cultural assimilation failed, for better or worse. Why don't you piss off instead of trying to tell me what I am, you little annoyance? This may shock you, but that's something I can say with utter certainty I know better than you.

So wait, you aren't a citizen?

Well, fuck, I was lied to. My mistake.

And damn the lack of edit. I was just trying to make a joke earlier.

You will be forgiven.

Right after I'm done laughing at you for your mistake.

[RogueIce]

You will be forgiven.

Thanks. I too have run afoul of the "Joke Not Recognized Due to Lack of Smilie" effect.

Right after I'm done laughing at you for your mistake.

Go for it. I probably deserve it. Though does this mean Tevar isn't a citizen either? I thought marrying one made you one. Or do you have to go apply for that?

[Lonestar]

You will be forgiven.

Right after I'm done laughing at you for your mistake.

You won't. Living in West Virginia is unforgivable.

What we need to do is bring in the Daley family to audit the process.

[SirNitram]

Right after I'm done laughing at you for your mistake.

Go for it. I probably deserve it. Though does this mean Tevar isn't a citizen either? I thought marrying one made you one. Or do you have to go apply for that?

Alright, I'll explain.

Marrying a citizen makes getting a Green Card easier. A Green Card is a magic peice of plastic(Actually pink in color) that says 'Yea, he can live here'. Being in the USA without a Green Card is being an Illegal Alien. There are other ways to get them; in my case, my entire family emigrated from England when I was younger, and I got in as part of my family.

There is, in fact, no way to become a Citizen without a semi-lengthy application process. Before moving, I did not even consider it(Merely renewing my Green Card took 21 months, when I was told it would take 3. Thank you, John Ashcroft and tightening up the INS.). I could do so now, since the local lines are much much smaller.

There is a way to improve your ease of becoming a citizen, and that's through military service. However, as there is no real intrinsic value for me to become a citizen(Short of getting a sensitive job with the FBI or something), it's not on my list of things to do. Even if I do do so, however, I will remain a Briton by birth, a Briton by bizarre mindset and political affiliation(Registered Monster Raving Looney!), and a Dual Citizen of both countries. I doubt I will be committing the sort of High Treason needed to lose my citizenship, even if I don't drink afternoon tea.

Hope that clears up any future questions on my nationality, the difficulties of getting into this country permenantly, and the joys(Horrors?) of the INS.

[BlkbrryTheGreat]

However, as there is no real intrinsic value for me to become a citizen

FYI if you're convicted of a crime they can deport you if you're not a citizen. I would suggest you get your citizenship, simply for that reason.

[SirNitram]

However, as there is no real intrinsic value for me to become a citizen

FYI if you're convicted of a crime they can deport you if you're not a citizen. I would suggest you get your citizenship, simply for that reason.

Blkbrry, I am well aware of this and the other differences between Citizens and Residents. Trust me when I say I've weighed everything.