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UNITED NATIONS - Seven American activist groups asked the United Nations on Monday to provide international observers for next month's presidential election. A petition delivered to the U.N. Economic and Social Council said that only the U.N. can "give us recourse to international bodies beyond those within our own national and state governments" in case of a repeat of the problems seen in the 2000 election, which President Bush won after a protracted ballot fight in Florida. Grace Ross of the Economic Human Rights Project, based in Somerville, Mass., said the non-governmental groups decided to seek action from the Economic...

Does anyone have information about the Akron Bar Association's organization of Poll "Observers" for Ohio polling places on election day? There was a notice posted at the University of Akron law School a few weeks ago saying such effort was underway sponsored by the "non-partisen" AFL-CIO, League of Women Voters and NAACP? Sounds like trouble to me.

The BBC was quick to put a negative spin on Afghanistan’s first democratic election ever, held on Saturday. The Beeb’s website headlined, “Afghan vote ends in controversy.” The story pointed out a possible election boycott by opposition candidates due to “voting irregularities.” By Sunday, the BBC was already backpedaling, announcing, “Afghan vote boycott 'crumbling'” and “Observers approve Afghan election.” Today, the Washington Post announced, “Afghan Election Concerns Subside: Several Candidates Back Off Assertions Of Voter Fraud.” The so-called “controversy” dealt with indelible ink that election workers were applying to voters’ thumbs after they cast their ballots. Some voters were able...

A Very Real Conspiracy… Written by JB Williams ©2004-10-07 As an answer to every Bill Clinton indiscretion or any democratic anti-American policy blunder, Hillary Clinton made famous the phrase “right wing conspiracy”. There never was one of course, but it always accomplished the much needed diversion from the endless stream of Clinton scandals by shifting focus off of the immediate scandal, onto the imaginary conspiracy. However, a very real conspiracy is underway in America today, it isn’t coming from those “nasty right wingers”, and the proof is all around us. The Democratic Party has been promoting the idea that Republicans...

(CNSNews.com) - They are either necessary to ensure fairness in this year's presidential election or they are a threat to U.S. national sovereignty, but regardless of your opinion, international election observers are finalizing plans to watch the American elections on Nov. 2. The State Department invited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to observe the elections. Now, the plan is for the group's representatives to be deployed in the U.S. between Oct. 30 and Election Day and stick around for a couple of extra days to provide an analysis of what went right and what, if...

The U.S. State Department cracked open the door and now the invasion has begun. Foreign election monitors determined to oversee the U.S. election this November seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Even Jimmy Carter has gotten into the act. The bottom line is that the November election is being set up to humiliate the United States and place in doubt the legitimacy of our government. Those calling for the election monitors, like Democrat California Representative Barbara Lee, argue that the move is necessary in order to "make certain that every person's voice is heard, every person's vote is...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - International observers predicted problems in the U.S. presidential election with new voting machines and warned the result could again be delayed, four years after a disputed count determined who won the White House. The Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe observers issued a report this week on preparations for the Nov. 2 vote, after a visit earlier this month. The group highlighted concerns over the machines, voter eligibility rules and allegations of intimidation aimed at lowering the turnout of ethnic minorities. "In general, the nationwide replacement of voting equipment, inspired by the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former President Jimmy Carter says that despite changes designed to eliminate voting problems in Florida - where the disputed 2000 presidential election was decided by only a few hundred votes - conditions for a fair election in that state still don't exist. "The disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely," Carter wrote in an opinion piece published Monday in the Washington Post. Touchscreen machines were introduced in Florida after the 2000 election, when punch-cards were responsible for delaying the outcome of the race between George Bush and Al Gore. Bush...

Election 2004: Democrats aim to prevent repeat of 2000 election fiasco By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press June 14, 2004 HOLLYWOOD — Recalling the contentious 2000 election, Democrats urged party activists on Sunday to find legal observers, push early voting methods and remain vigilant of any problems during the upcoming November election. Party leaders and activists discussed ways to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election in Florida, in which George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by 537 votes after a 36-day recount was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court. "Any way we cut it, these people are going to try...

Excerpt from FR thread on the Global Exchange (see comment): In what is believed to be the first mission of its kind, Global Exchange- an international human-rights organization in San Francisco that sponsors independent election monitoring overseas - has invited 20 of these "skilled election observers" to America to investigate "red-flag issues" in our electoral processes.

In America, the states are responsible for conducting elections. If there is a problem in a particular county or state, then those who are affected should direct their complaints to the state and local election officials. Rather than address her concerns to the proper authorities, however, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson and a dozen of her Democrat cohorts asked the U.N. to come monitor our elections because they "... are deeply concerned that the right of U.S. citizens to vote in free and fair elections is again in jeopardy." Apparently, this lady has more confidence in the scandal-ridden U.N. than in...

WASHINGTON - A team of international observers will travel to five states beginning Friday to monitor preparations for the Nov. 2 presidential election. The observers, organized by the San Francisco human rights group Global Exchange, will meet with voters, voting-rights groups and local officials to discuss voter disenfranchisement, the security of electronic voting machines and the influence of money in politics. Four years after the Florida recount exposed major weaknesses in U.S. election systems, they hope international pressure will help boost voter confidence and head off potential problems. "The presence of an international group really gives confidence to voters," observer...

Independent Election Observer Team Arrives in U.S. Fri Sep 17,12:34 PM ET Jim Lobe, OneWorld US WASHINGTON, D.C., Sep 17 (OneWorld) - A team of 20 independent democracy experts from 15 countries and five continents has arrived in the United States in order to observe this year's presidential election campaign. The election monitors, who have been brought here by the San Francisco activist group "Global Exchange," will be fanning out in the coming days initially to research how the election preparations are being conducted in five states. They will then return just before the actual polling November 2. The five...

The bitterness and bad feelings left from 2000's nasty, monthlong dispute over Florida's presidential vote could explode into election day chaos this November as both major parties get ready to fight that battle again, anywhere in the country. Democrats boast of having 10,000 attorneys ready to deal with any election law violations on Nov. 2, while Republicans want to have bipartisan teams of observers in every precinct where problems could occur. Various other groups, some linked to the parties and some not, also vow to do whatever it takes to keep the election clean. (snip)There's a growing concern that the...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sep 17 (OneWorld) - A team of 20 independent democracy experts from 15 countries and five continents has arrived in the United States in order to observe this year's presidential election campaign. The election monitors, who have been brought here by the San Francisco activist group "Global Exchange," will be fanning out in the coming days initially to research how the election preparations are being conducted in five states. They will then return just before the actual polling November 2. The five states include Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Missouri, and Georgia. According to Global Exchange, Florida was selected due...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sep 17 (OneWorld) - A team of 20 independent democracy experts from 15 countries and five continents has arrived in the United States in order to observe this year's presidential election campaign.

I hear that the State Department has invited the UN to send a team to monitor the US elections. I am new to the political arena, and so I have to ask, is this something that they have the legal authority to do, or is this something that only Congress should be allowed to do, if it is done at all? Finally, isn't this in some way surrendering our national sovereignty to outsiders? It seems to me that with all the attention being paid to national security these days, this move makes absolutely no sense.

What has become of all the talk about oversight of our elections?

FOREIGN OBSERVERS TO TREAT U.S. LIKE A THIRD WORLD DELINQUENT By Tom DeWeese August 30, 2004 NewsWithViews.com Here's the line in the sand. Americans can either sit down and do nothing about a planned invasion of foreign election observers or stand for their liberty by saying no. There is no middle ground. The Bush Administration, through Secretary of State Colin Powell, has given into pressure from thirteen far-left Democrat members of the House of Representatives and invited an international group to officially observe the November presidential election. Earlier this year, the thirteen Congressmen, led by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX),...

(CNSNews.com) - When the U.S. State Department invited a team of international election observers to watch this year's American presidential election, it invited "scandal, fraud and corruption to the American electoral process," a conservative watchdog group has charged. The American Policy Center (APC) is warning of a "catastrophe," in part because Florida Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings, labeled a "disgraced federal judge" by the APC, will play a prominent role in the election observing. Hastings was elected July 9 as president of the division at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that will be charged with the...