CNN: International team to monitor presidential election

[tomfodw]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/08/international.observers/index.html


International team to monitor presidential election
Observers will be part of OSCE's human rights office

From David de Sola
CNN
Sunday, August 8, 2004 Posted: 8:22 PM EDT


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.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[freetobegay]

1. They were invited by the State Department, thats the first warning.

How much do you think Bushco will pay to fix this problem?

[ContraBass Black]

2. Yes! I want at least one monitor in EVERY

majority poor, immigrant, minority, and immigrant polling station!

[wtmusic]

3. I want one in Katharine Harris' friggin' HOUSE n/t

[saigon68]

4. JUST LIKE A BANANA REPUBLIC

YIKES

[dweller]

5. "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"

:wtf:

dp

[Occulus]

24. They're scared of the UN

I'm occasionally hearing Republicans spouting about how the UN "won't be in control of this country, I can tell you that muxh" and other such stuff.

[SquireJons]

28. That's what happens when...

Good republican girls marry into the local militia.

[Cha]

6. Boy, that puts a whole new light on our elections in

Nov. jeeby et al should be embarrASSed and ashamed but I know they're not.

[acmavm]

9. No, they're happy and elated that they can subvert and pervert the

election process like they do. They do not give a fat rat's ass what us plebian Americans think. The are the aristocracy don't ya know.

[restorefreedom]

7. too bad it isn't going to do a damn bit of good

I bet Michael Moore will have better luck uncovering this year's voting theft.

[newyawker99]

32. Hi restorefreedom!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[number6]

8. BANANA REPUBLICANS

:wow:

[grasswire]

10. CNN is way behind on this story

Reuters had it on Friday, and I posted it then.

[tomfodw]

11. Sorry

Didn't see it, and I checked tonight to see if someone else had posted it here. Oops.

[Rose Siding]

20. I missed it! Did it

attribute the request to Powell, too? This is just weird. I don't see any other admin quotes or mentions.

Could he have gone rogue on this?

[hunter]

39. Heh, heh, heh...

I think I knew about this on Thursday, and yes I think it was posted in various places on DU by Friday, once by me. (Sorry if that was a double.)

DU is often quicker than CNN and the other dinosaurs, sometimes by days, sometimes by months, sometimes by years...

[flordehinojos]

12. This is sort of like the time when ELIAN GONZALEZ was to meet his two

grandmothers at the home of Sister Jeanne O'Loughlin (sp?). The fact is that while she was billed as being the most neutral citizen in Dade County, Florida ... the woman had been bought by the CANF and the Cubans who were supporting stealing Elian from his father.

The same goes here. An organization invited by a Sate Department run by the Bushies ..... the whole thing smells fishy!

Why don't we the public invite JIMMY CARTER to monitor our elections with monitors of his trusted choosing ... that would be something I could trust!

There is no end to the thuggery and the thievery that these bushes are capable of ...:mad:

[stepnw1f]

13. Once Again They Use Partisanship To Compromise Everybody's Rights to Vote

This is disgusting. This isn't a political football, and I'll be damned to trust the State Department, which has been less than honest to it's tax paying citizens, to uphold and safegaurd the integrity of our voting process.

The Republican Party should be held in contempt of partisanship and transparency of the voting process. We already know there is a conflict when a Political Party with an incumbent, run's for re-election and that same Party is controlling the voting process by implementing a new flawed and untested system, and finally being bought from one of it's own constituents.

Is it any worse.... yes. Our votes are being tested by a machine, built by Bush's constutuents, to decide who wins and election in 2004. We already know they stole the election. What makes you think they won't try again?

Will they win or will Democracy be toast?

[onehandle]

14. Freeps make threats...................

Freeps:

International team to monitor presidential election - Who wants to DIE first?

Posted on 08/08/2004 6:55:09 PM PDT by steplock
_____________________________________________________

If I see one BLUE HELMET ..... No threat - just a promise!

they do not have to be wearing the helmets or uniforms (then they are illegal agents) either.

1 posted on 08/08/2004 6:55:10 PM PDT by steplock
_____________________________________________________

To: steplock

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic ..... SO HELP ME GOD.

NOW we find the reason for the SECOND AMENDMENT!

8 posted on 08/08/2004 6:59:28 PM PDT by steplock
_____________________________________________________

To: steplock

Gotta agree with that. See one blue helmet and forget about voting with ballots.

14 posted on 08/08/2004 7:06:05 PM PDT by kcar (www.TheUNsucks.com
_____________________________________________________

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1187644/posts

[onehandle]

17. More threats from well known hate group, Free Republic...

Wonder if they'll be wearing blue helmets?



38 posted on 08/08/2004 7:20:22 PM PDT by Jim Noble (Many will kill for socialism, few will die for it.)

[onehandle]

18. And the deleting begins......

Too late. I saved a copy and Atrios has picked it up.

[Zhade]

19. Send this to the Feds. This is criminal.

Maybe some of those dickless little fascist fucks will get a visit, to remind them that we abide by all treaties as part of the higher law of the land.

Punk-ass pussies. They'd probably piss themselves in a real fight.

[Spiffarino]

22. "Probably" nothin'...

They'd piss themselves if somebody threatened a fight. Or else they'd do like their Glorious Leader and just send somebody else to do their fighting for them.

[tamtam]

25. Sad, Sad

little people and all talk no play.Either the mods are slow to delete or they just don't care. I guess those Republicans didn't get the memo on absentee voting.

[spooked]

15. It appears Colin Powell is the HERO here

He must have decided he won't be sticking around for a second term anyway. Bet B*sh is not too happy with him right now!!


"After Annan rejected their request, saying the administration must make the application, the Democrats asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to do so."

[Pachamama]

16. Too bad he couldn't get the funds to the UN Population Fund released...

...guess maybe Powell thinks this can make up for all the lost lives as a result of another failed Bu$h policy.

This is pretty interesting but even more amazing to think that the Republicans would be doing things to block this from happening...makes you wonder, doesn't it? :eyes:

[neuvocat]

34. Agreed.

I'm sure that Powell's also got quite the ax to grind with Bush.

[Spiffarino]

21. U.S. needs election monitoring now, but still...

...as a signatory to the agreement it would be hypocritical not to allow the European monitors in regardless of the circumstances. What's sauce for the goose, etc.

[RainDog]

23. they should do their own exit polling

to monitor the possibility of computer voting fraud were the Diebold machines are in place.

This is one way they could serve a very useful function for democracy.

remember the company that did exit polling that, oops, couldn't ever since Bush stole the 2000 election?

hopefully they will be able to report on intimidation at the polls, or merely by their presence, and the knowledge that the whole world is watching, the fascists will not be able to engage in the same dirty tricks they've employed in the last two elections.

....and, yes, someone should make the feds aware that fascists in America are threatening the lives of people who have been invited by this country to monitor elections.

The Bush junta should realize that their reign of terror is about to end.

It's time to restore democracy in America. Then we've got a lot more work to do to fix the mess they've made.

[Kurovski]

37. Yes, we need exit polling brought back

Results were accurate for decades in predicting an election's outcome, but Bush&Co. decided to change all that.

It was alawys a good indicator of fraud, hence it has been dispensed with. why would they want to do such a thing? :eyes:

[PurityOfEssence]

26. Stabbed Junior in the back...

Fredo, how could you?

[0007]

27. It appears that most Americans don't trust the Republians

Should international observers be brought in to monitor the U.S. presidential election?

Yes, bring in outside monitors
55%
28893 votes

No, we don't want to be exposed by the outside world
45%
23213 votes

Total: 52106 votes

[llmart]

29. Another sad commentary......

on the direction our country has taken when we have to have our elections monitored, all because of the crime family, Bush.

[Tight_rope]

36. It truly is sad and embarrassing...But it has to be done...Bring in the UN

[missile_bender]

30. What are the Borg up to?

The Borg rejects the UN but invites OSCE? I can't believe Powell has grown a pair (is this why he can't go to the GOP Con?).

It seems to me that Kerry will win by a landslide but the Borg will again steal the election ("Your votes will be assimilated"), using every level of voter registration, voting and counting fraud available. So why ask for trouble?

Then I saw this story:

According to World Net Daily, "Meanwhile, Rep. Corrine Brown, a Florida Democrat, announced that the Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has confirmed that it will be present in the United States – specifically, in Florida – on Election Day.

However, state election authorities in Florida have already announced that such observers are not to be allowed access to the voting process and, in any case, they would have to remain at a distance of more than 50 feet from the polls." (emphasis mine)

Maybe that's it. The fraud is a go, but by blocking the oberserves from having access in any meaningful way, they hope the observers will rubber stamp the fraud. Watch out.

[Rose Siding]

31. Uh-oh, Arnold's going to win

snip>
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.

[CBHagman]

33. Thank you, Jesus!

If Hillary Clinton had gotten into the White House by "winning" a state where her brother was the governor, her state campaign head was secretary of state, Democratic toughs had interrupted vote counting, and two Supreme Court justices who had family working for her had delivered the favorable verdict that let her "win" the White House, the right-wing pundits and various Republicans would have screamed bloody murder.

But when Bush "won" in that fashion, we were told it was Very, Very Good. YEAH, RIGHT.

Monitor THIS, Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris!

[RebelYell]

35. One step closer to NWO n/t

[TankLV]

38. It's.

About.

Time.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

40. I want to know more about those who would be "observing"...

It sounds like a great idea on the one hand; but on the other hand, how do we know these aren't simply Euro-neo-nazis?

[autorank]

41. Mixed bag of blue helmets...

Now we can be sure they've put LSD in the water supply! This must be a joke, but apparently it isn't. Do we welcome the UN because it shows the corruption of our process? Do we attack Bushco because they've allowed this UN violation of our sovereignty? As Haldeman said in "Nixon": "We're beyond politics now." And through the looking glass...