Canada Free Press -- ARCHIVES

Because without America, there is no free world.

Return to Canada Free Press

Cover Story

Monitoring the election monitors

by Judi McLeod, Canadafreepress.com

October 11, 2004

In the run up to November 2's american election, we now have members of self-declared "nonpartisan" yet partisan observer groups out in the field examining U.S. voting systems they claim are administered by partisan agents.

Touted as a Tory, former Canadian cabinet minister David MacDonald is monitoring american elections as a member drafted by the San Francisco human rights group Global Exchange.

MacDonald said observers were shocked to find that partisan officials run U.S. elections.

Requiring election officers to be nonpartisan "is as close as you can get in democratic or electoral terms to a universal norm," MacDonald said after visiting Missouri, where Secretary of State Matt Blunt, a Republican, is the chief electoral officer and a candidate for governor. "There are some very serious problem that need to be addressed."
Portrayed by the international mainline media as a Conservative, MacDonald, no stranger to social justice causes, has always had the reputation of a Red Tory.

MacDonald switched over to the New Democrat Party (NDP) after losing his seat in Toronto Rosedale Riding in 1993.

"Subsequent to his defeat in 1993 Canadian elections, he became romantically involved with (former Canadian NDP leader) alexa McDonough," says encyclopedia.thefreedictiomary.com. Former Toronto Councillor Jack Layton succeeded McDonough as NDP leader last year.

MacDonald is not the only big gun from the left dispatched to keep an eye on american elections. Former President Jimmy Carter, who has stepped up to the plate, has already concluded that some U.S. voting systems don't meet international standards "even as many other nations are conducting elections that are internationally certified to be transparent, honest and fair."

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has assigned more than 100 observers to the task, refused to make any of them available before a news conference last Thursday. But it laid out potential problems in a preliminary report issued Sept. 28.

The combination of the OSCE and Global Exchange represent the largest effort yet by foreigners to watch a U.S. election.

What about the partisanship of Global Exchange, accepting grants from the Tides Foundation, which has ties to Teresa Heinz-Kerry?

The OSCE faulted procedures with absentees and provisional ballots, cited reports of voter intimidation and disenfranchisement, and criticized moves by a few states to allow overseas and military voters to fax rather then mail completed ballots.

The report also noted that many of the reforms envisioned by an election assistance law enacted after the disputed 2000 presidential election won't be in place by Nov. 2, and raised concerns that the right to vote "may not be evenly applied or protected throughout the country."

The observers' presence has drawn Republican rebuke.

"What do foreign observers bring to american elections?" Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., wrote to constituents. "We are not a country suppressed by tyranny and aggression; we are a free nation built upon a foundation of citizen democracy."

a number of Democrats failed in an attempt to bring in United Nation monitors.

With the lack of nonpartisanship among the ranks of the election monitors, it seems that it's the election monitors who need the benefits of monitoring.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement