Posted on 10/20/2012 9:34:20 AM PDT by markomalley
United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week. The intervention has drawn criticism from a prominent conservative-leaning group combating election fraud.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a United Nations partner on democratization and human rights projects, will deploy 44 observers around the county on Election Day to monitor an array of activities, including potential disputes at polling places.
Liberal-leaning civil rights groups met with representatives from the OSCE this week to raise their fears about what they say are systematic efforts to suppress minority voters likely to vote for President Obama.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP and the ACLU, among other groups, warned this month in a letter to Daan Everts, a senior official with OSCE, of “a coordinated political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans — particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities.”
The request for foreign monitoring of election sites drew a strong rebuke from Catherine Engelbrecht, founder and president of True the Vote, a conservative-leaning group seeking to crack down on election fraud.
“These activist groups sought assistance not from American sources, but from the United Nations,” she said in a statement to The Hill. “The United Nations has no jurisdiction over American elections.”
The observers, from countries such as Germany, France, Serbia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, will observe voting at polling places and other political activity.
“They [will] observe the overall election process, not just the ballot casting,” said Giovanna Maiola, spokeswoman for OSCE. “They are focusing on a number of areas on the state level, including the legal system, election administration, the campaign, the campaign financing [and] new voting technologies used in the different states.”
In a follow-up e-mail, Maiola noted that it is a limited election-observation mission. She said “the OSCE has regularly been invited to observe elections in the United States, in line with OSCE commitments.”
Access of international observers during voting is explicitly allowed in some states such as Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Mexico.
“State law does not generally provide for international observers,” Maiola said. “However, through our contacts at state and county level in certain states, we managed to secure invitations at local level and we have taken up the offer to observe. Where this is not possible, we will respect the state regulation on this matter and will not observe in precincts on Election Day.”
International observers will follow up on the concerns raised by civil rights groups.
“We attended their meeting, we took note of the issued they raised and we asked our observers in the field to follow up on them,” said Maiola.
The OSCE has 56 participating states from Europe, Central Asia and North America, including the United States and Canada. It has assessed elections in the United States since 2002.
Voting is expected to be more contentious this November than in past years because of a running battle over election law pitting conservative groups and Republican state officials against the Obama administration and liberal allies.
The Obama campaign scored a victory this week when the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal filed by Republican officials in Ohio seeking to limit the state’s early voting program.
Last month in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court declined to immediately review lower-court rulings invalidating a voter-identification law signed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
In Florida, judges stopped attempts to restrict voter-registration drives but allowed measures to reduce days of early voting and to remove non-citizens from voting rolls to stand.
Both sides expect wrangling over voter identification and eligibility to extend to polling places and are recruiting armies of volunteers for Election-Day showdowns.
True the Vote, a group with Tea Party origins, has an ambitious plan to deploy hundreds of thousands of volunteers at polling stations to monitor election fraud.
“We may surpass a million volunteers or fall short, it will be hard to know,” said Engelbrecht. “But we’re very excited about the level of enthusiasm, the number of volunteers, and the fact that we had a positive impact in bringing awareness to this important issue, of election integrity."
Democratic allies will counter with their own forces. The AFL-CIO will dispatch 300 lawyers to monitor poll workers and third-party groups challenging voter registration.
The Advancement Project, a self-described multi-racial civil rights organization, will send more than 3,000 poll watchers to battleground states.
The Election Protection coalition, which includes Democratic allies such as the Sierra Club, Service Employees International Union and People for the American Way, plans to recruit 8,000 to 10,000 volunteers to cover 80 cities and counties.
“We hope that all groups that are putting people at a polling place, that they should follow the law and they should be there to make sure that responsible Americans who wish to participate in our democracy are able to free of intimidation,” said Eric Marshall, co-leader of Election Protection.
Civil rights groups have complained about what they say are subtle efforts of intimidation. They point to a billboard campaign in swing states such as Ohio warning voter fraud is a felony punishable by up to three and a half years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Engelbrecht of True the Vote says intimidation is not her group’s motive.
“We are not in the business of picking winners or losers, but instead, to ensure that the process is iron-clad,” she said. “Properly trained a capable poll watchers or workers should offer no indication of their partisan or ideological leanings to voters at the polls.”
I’m with you. Screw the UN & their globull crap. Get rid of them & all of their problems, we have enough of our own.
How can they say that? There are far more dead people than living so they can clearly not be labeled a 'minority'.
You *know* that any report they issue will claim "voter suppression" of our "of color" population.And in this tight race...a race that will very probably feature at least one major court challenge (think algore 2000)...the SCOTUS will most certainly see such a report as credible (including,of course,Roberts).So just imagine all votes from the heavily Republican Florida Panhandle being thrown out because of a UN report.Given what we know about the UN,Osama *and* Roberts it's not *that* hard to imagine.
William Flax
The only suppression is coming from the Democrats, ask the soldiers about how easy it is for them to vote.
I have been hoping that some of those guys would have the balls to show up at our polling place.
I guess China, North Korea and Cuba have real elections? lol
As opposed to “voter enhancement activities” by liberal groups?
Yeah, I know what you are saying... I just think that any claim of “voter suppression” coming from U.N. observers will have no legal standing. I don’t think that we (the people) will stand for any extra-national interference with our elections. Also, I don’t think that any such claims will matter, as I think this election will be a strong repudiation of Obama and all he stands with/for, and it will be a major landslide against him and the left. I don’t believe it will be a close election at all.
Belarus too? That hardcore totalitarian Commie country.
These clowns need to be FReeped when they come to town.
Well, they might have legal standing under our "living" (Newspeak for "dead") Constitution.
We live in an age where Supreme Court justices travel abroad and recommend that other nations use the South African Constitution as their model, because our own US Constitution is just to icky old-fashioned and outmoded.
Nothing surprises me anymore.
UN OUT OF US
If they interfere in any way they should be shot.
Get the hell out of our elections!
I tend to agree with you. If my little circle is any indication, I know that for certain 4 out of 6 of my BO-voting work friends have switched to Romney. And they cannot stand Barry anymore.
Also in my very blue district I am seeing very, very few BO signs. I see lots of local race signs, but very few signs for Barry and his sidekick. Same with bumperstickers.
In contrast, last election, my street block was lined up and down with them, and every other car was sporting that eyesore logo of his. Now? Only in the more urban areas. Suburbs--not so much. I take this as a huge deflation in voter enthusiasm for the incumbent. So sad. :D
I'm with you, it's looking like a landslide.
I usually just shrug off the annoying leftist crud, but this really makes me angry. I am truly offended.
make sure they stay 50 feet away from the polling places as it is for all poll watchers.
Also, have conservative watchers watching the UN watchers.
Thanks for the ping.
We’re seeing echoes of the 2000 and 2004 elections, in which the left claimed conservative vote fraud/fixing in the former case and voter suppression in the latter. Neither claim held up. I believe the “watchers” will be sent to certain precincts in swing states.
If my general neighborhood is any indication at all, I don’t think this will go over very well. There are almost no BO bumper stickers anymore, in fact, I’ve seen some car bumpers with evidence of a sticker recently scraped off. Yard signs and posters are for local candidates and measures only.
I’d like to see the “over my dead body” vote come out in full force on Election Day, and for these “observers” to meet a set of knuckles if need be.
Those who 'vote the folks who don't show up' to vote - will be going to jail... Voter fraud is a crime. No matter who you are, your sexual persuasion, religion or color - voter fraud is a crime.
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