Fw: Congressmen call on U.N. to monitor US election in November to protect against expected fraud

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Sunday, July 04, 2004 10:16 AM

Congressmen call on U.N. to monitor US election in November to protect

against expected fraud

 

 

U.N. monitors sought for U.S. presidential election

 

World body unlikely to send observers

 

By TODD J. GILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Still smarting from the 2000 Florida recount, a group of

congressional Democrats led by Dallas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson has asked the

United Nations to monitor this year's presidential election.

 

" We are deeply concerned that the right of U.S. citizens to vote in free and

fair elections is again in jeopardy, " the lawmakers wrote to Secretary-General

Kofi Annan.

 

While the request might evoke images of blue-helmeted peacekeepers outside the

local library, the request won't be granted.

 

" Generally, the United Nations does not intervene in electoral affairs unless

the request comes from a national government or an electoral authority - not the

legislative branch, " said U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe.

 

Because the U.N. Charter bars violations of sovereignty, the State Department,

or perhaps the Federal Election Commission, would have to invite observers. And

monitoring would have to be approved by the U.N.'s Security Council or the

General Assembly.

 

None of the five permanent Security Council members has ever been subjected to

such monitoring, officials said. The biggest undertaking was in South Africa,

population 43 million, a decade ago when apartheid fell.

 

The rule of thumb is one observer for each 100 polling sites, which would be an

army of 20,000 foreigners deployed from Key West to Anchorage.

 

Ms. Johnson's letter points to " widespread allegations of voter

disenfranchisement " in Florida and other states in 2000, and cites an April

report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that found potential for

" significant problems. "

 

Ms. Johnson was among six members of the Congressional Black Caucus to sign the

letter.

 

There is ample evidence that problems laid bare in 2000 persist.

 

Only $650 million of $3 billion Congress authorized for election reform since

2000 has reached states. On Friday, The Miami Herald reported that more than

2,100 eligible voters still appear on the state's list of purged felons. Many

are black Democrats.

 

Republicans offered no immediate opinion on the request. " The U.N.? Monitoring

elections where? " said party spokeswoman Heather Layman.