Foreign Observers See Problems in Election

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Foreign Observers See Problems in Election

Thu Oct 21, 2004 12:55 PM ET

 

By Alan Elsner

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Substantial threats to the integrity of the

U.S. presidential election remain despite an improvement in election

practices since 2000, an international delegation of election

observers reported on Thursday.

 

The delegation of 20, including lawyers, diplomats, civic leaders and

veteran election monitors from 15 countries, visited five key states

last month to review preparations for the Nov. 2 balloting.

 

They plan to return to Florida, Ohio and Missouri on Election Day,

although officials in some counties have so far not agreed to allow

them access to polling places and vote counting centers.

 

" We hope voters in the United States will feel confidence with the

presence of international observers and realize they are part of a

world community, " said Brigalia Bam, chairperson of South Africa's

independent electoral commission.

 

Australian human rights lawyer Irene Baghoomians urged local election

officials in parts of Ohio and south Florida, who have so far failed

to allow the delegation access on Election Day, to change their minds.

 

" We do not see any harm from increased accountability and

transparency, " she said.

 

International interest in the fairness of the U.S. election was fueled

by problems that emerged in the bitterly disputed 2000 vote. This

delegation was sponsored by Global Exchange, a human rights

organization. Several other overseas groups are also planning to send

observers to monitor the election.

 

The group made several recommendations, although it acknowledged that

it was probably too late for many of them to be implemented less than

two weeks before the election.

 

It strongly recommended that new electronic touch screen voting

machines that have been introduced in many states in the past four

years be equipped to produce a voter-verified, recountable paper record.

 

CALL FOR PAPER TRAIL

 

" Transparency at the polls is critical and cannot be readily

established without voter verification, " the report said. " If such

verification is not available, arrangements for independent auditing

should be put in place. "

 

Noting that tests of the machines have produced frequent errors, the

delegation said the assumption that newer technology automatically led

to more effective voting systems was short-sighted.

 

It urged that open source computer coding be incorporated in voting

machines. At the moment, the source is proprietary and belongs to the

companies that make the machines.

 

The report criticized the fact that U.S. elections are administered by

political partisans, saying that it fell short of international norms.

 

In Missouri, secretary of state Matt Blunt is Republican candidate for

governor and will have to certify his own election if he wins. In

Ohio, Republican secretary of state J. Kenneth Blackwell has made

crucial decisions on voter registration which may affect his political

future and ambitions to run for higher office.

 

In 2000, Florida's then-secretary of state Katherine Harris played a

key role in the dispute that ultimately led to the election of George

W. Bush as president. She herself was elected to Congress as a

Republican two years later.

 

Other concerns raised by the report included inadequate training of

poll workers, who sometimes only received one hour of instruction

every three years regardless of changes to the election laws.

 

The delegation condemned the disenfranchisement of an estimated 4.7

million ex-felons which it said fell short of international standards.

 

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