Posted on 08/08/2004 6:36:51 PM PDT by repub32
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A team of international observers will monitor the presidential election in November, according to the U.S. State Department.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was invited to monitor the election by the State Department. The observers will come from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
It will be the first time such a team has been present for a U.S. presidential election.
"The U.S. is obliged to invite us, as all OSCE countries should," spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir said. "It's not legally binding, but it's a political commitment. They signed a document 10 years ago to ask OSCE to observe elections."
Thirteen Democratic members of the House of Representatives, raising the specter of possible civil rights violations that they said took place in Florida and elsewhere in the 2000 election, wrote to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in July, asking him to send observers.
After Annan rejected their request, saying the administration must make the application, the Democrats asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to do so.
The issue was hotly debated in the House, and Republicans got an amendment to a foreign aid bill that barred federal funds from being used for the United Nations to monitor U.S. elections, The Associated Press reported.
In a letter dated July 30 and released last week, Assistant Secretary of State Paul Kelly told the Democrats about the invitation to OSCE, without mentioning the U.N. issue.
"I am pleased that Secretary Powell is as committed as I am to a fair and democratic process," said Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, who spearheaded the effort to get U.N. observers.
"The presence of monitors will assure Americans that America cares about their votes and it cares about its standing in the world," she said in a news release.
Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California agreed.
"This represents a step in the right direction toward ensuring that this year's elections are fair and transparent," she said.
"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."
OSCE, the world's largest regional security organization, will send a preliminary mission to Washington in September to assess the size, scope, logistics and cost of the mission, Gunnarsdottir said.
The organization, which counts among its missions conflict prevention and postconflict rehabilitation, will then determine how many observers are required and where in the United States they will be sent.
"OSCE-participating [nations] agreed in 1990 to observe elections in one another's countries. The OSCE routinely monitors elections within its 55-state membership, including Europe, Eurasia, Canada and the United States," a State Department spokesman said.
The spokesman said the United States does not have any details on the size and composition of the observers or what countries will provide them.
OSCE, based in Vienna, Austria, has sent more than 10,000 personnel to monitor more than 150 elections and referenda in more than 30 countries during the past decade, Gunnarsdottir said.
In November 2002, OSCE sent 10 observers on a weeklong mission to monitor the U.S. midterm elections. OSCE also sent observers to monitor the California gubernatorial recall election last year.
More recently, OSCE monitored the elections in Northern Ireland in November and in Spain in March.
Bring them on!
Yeah, thats right. The water in the pot is only luke warm right now. Keep swimming little frog.
Aw hell... just go to sleep thinking about a giant rabbit gnawing on Jimmuh.
At least I don't wear a tin foil body suit like some idiots around here do 24/7.
let them - suing the US in the World Court to install Kerry as President, isn't going to help the Democrats politically.
Blinders are even worse.
Keep Fraud in check HAHAHAHA or use this to commit more Fraud with the leftist scum around the worlds help. This will never be a good thing and will be real scary and a push as usual to change this countries Strength in the world. One liberal scumbag in the whitehouse like Kerry and he will embrace this and build on it.
If we post a U.S. Marshal along side each OSCE monitor, I'll feel much better about this.
Are they going to monitor the streets, to make sure nobody is out hoarding people without a clue onto buses and buying them off with cash or smokes? I consider that fraudulent. Are they going to make sure no dead people vote?
How about if we just get more than a little annoyed at the symbolism of this -- especially in light of the dems who tried to get the UN to monitor our elections?
IF that happen?? ... then you can say good bye to the Dem Party .. because American's will freak out on them
Never search for a complete title, since the same article will often be printed in many different publications, some of which will change the title to suit their preference or space limitations.
Instead, search (separately) for a few of the key words, in this case "election" would have turned up all the variations, and "monitor" or "international" would have turned up most of them.
riots by whom? the Dems already have plenty of constituencies that they could call to riot after a Kerry loss, they don't need the UN for that.
This is a new tactic for them (publicly calling in the socialists, I mean), and I'm not sure if it will work. They managed to pull off some pretty destructive demonstrations in Seattle, though.
Thanks. I don't post often, and wasn't aware that this would have been a better way to search.
you are going to see some stuff in NYC for the convention too.
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