Elections Watched by Foreign Observers

[Kanary]

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1001-20.htm

Published on Friday, October 1, 2004 by The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Elections Watched by Foreign Observers
by Helen Thomas
(snip)

"Global Exchange, an international human rights organization based in San Francisco, has gathered civic leaders, parliamentarians, diplomats and journalists from 15 countries to monitor elections in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Missouri.

(snip)

The second group -- the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe -- has been invited by the State Department to send a delegation of election observers to the United States. A five-member OSCE team made an initial visit last month and a larger group will monitor on Election Day.

The first OSCE group warned in an 11-page report that slow replacement of outdated voting machines and voting procedures could delay the outcome of the Nov. 2 election, just as the same devilish combo did four years ago.

(snip)
In addition, the OSCE criticized poorly maintained voter registration lists and questioned ballot secrecy when states allow military voters to fax their completed ballots.

Former President Carter, whose Carter Center in Atlanta has observed more than 50 elections around the world, said Monday in an Op-Ed piece in The Washington Post that "some elements for a fair election are missing in Florida." He claimed that Florida voting officials "have proved to be highly partisan, brazenly violating a basic need for an unbiased and universally trusted authority to manage all elements of the electoral process."

I strongly suggest reading the rest of this, especially those who have not read Carter's comments that follow.

I think this is a good piece to share with doubters and fencesitters. It shows just how much the US has slipped.

Kanary