Fw: US voting system so at risk, we will have foreign monitors reporting on the vote after November election

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Sunday, August 15, 2004 9:55 PM

US voting system so at risk, we will have foreign monitors reporting on

the vote after November election

 

 

Foreign Monitors to Report on U.S. Presidential Vote

 

 

Washington - Major international monitors will issue an unprecedented report on

the handling of this year's U.S. presidential election, after the 2000 vote

raised concerns of disenfranchisement, U.S. officials said on Monday.

 

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will a send a team to

observe the vote in a move applauded by Democrats who had sought monitors

because they felt ballots were unfairly left uncounted last time, particularly

in Florida.

 

In 2000, voters split down the middle in Florida, which was ridiculed worldwide

as it spawned court battles over whether and how to count imperfect ballots. The

U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled George W. Bush was the winner by 537 votes,

which put him in the White House.

 

With polls showing this year's election between Bush and Democrat John Kerry

will also be tight, civil rights groups have raised concern over a repeat of the

2000 debacle.

 

The OSCE, which groups 55 countries, does not have a mandate to judge the

fairness of this year's vote. Still, while some OSCE representatives have

observed U.S. presidential votes before, this year will be the first time they

will report publicly afterward on any shortcomings it finds, according to State

Department officials.

 

" This represents a step in the right direction toward ensuring that this year's

elections are fair and transparent, " Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat,

said in a statement.

 

" We sincerely hope that the presence of the monitors will make certain that

every person's voice is heard, every person's vote is counted. "

 

Lee was one of a group of Democrats in the House of Representatives who

initially wanted U.N. monitors. Republicans complained a U.N. mission would make

the world's superpower look like a third world nation and passed an amendment in

the House banning the use of federal funds to make such a request.

 

The OSCE traditionally has monitored elections in fragile democracies to

determine if they were fair. But in the last few years it has also observed

votes in major Western powers, such as France and Spain, in a new program to

help its members learn from others' examples.

 

The State Department, which traditionally invites OSCE observers, requested the

mission under that new program.

 

Focusing on Florida, an OSCE mission observed the 2002 mid-term U.S.

congressional elections to see what changes had been put in place " to address

the challenges of the 2000 presidential election, " the OSCE vote report said.

 

The report noted " remedial measures " had significantly addressed the

shortcomings of two years earlier in Florida but said " room for some further

improvement remains. "

 

Source: Truthout

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/081004V.shtml