Just when I thought nothing would shock or surprise me something comes along that absolutely sends me into a rage!! Just who the hell do these assholes think they are dealing with??
Oct 20, 2012 32
Oct 20, 2012 32
Excerpted from THE HILL: United Nations 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.”
Bill,
ReplyDeleteWe weren't a third world anything - except a perpetual handout - until we put a third-grade mentality in the White House!
Colonel Robert F. Cunningham
Albuquerque
Well stated...
ReplyDeleteThis is how civil wars start.
ReplyDeleteI hope not, but if I see UN Blue berets carrying guns on American streets, its game over.
ReplyDeleteI find that you did bright decision when you came up with this theme of the article. Do you generally write your blog entries alone or maybe you have a writing partner or even an assistant?
ReplyDeleteYes I am the one and only person to blame for the articles within the Been Franklin Blog. At least this way, when they stand me against the wall, no one goes down with me.
ReplyDelete