by Henry Lamb
September 20, 2004
In america, the states are responsible for conducting elections. If there is a problem in a particular county, or state, then those who are affected should direct their complaints to the state and local election officials.
Rather than address her concerns to the proper authorities, however, Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, and a dozen of her Democrat cohorts, asked the U.N. to come monitor our elections because they "...are deeply concerned that the right of U.S. citizens to vote in free and fair elections is again in jeopardy." apparently, this lady has more confidence in the scandal-ridden U.N. than in her own government.
The U.N. replied saying that the request had to come from the Executive Branch. Immediately, the "Dirty (bakers)Dozen" went to work on the Secretary of State, who, for reasons that defy logic, acquiesced. Consequently, a delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will descend on selected voting places throughout the country to monitor our elections.
Why? This group has no authority to do anything. The entire fiasco is nothing more than an elaborate stage for some of the more radical Democrats to spew their venom. In case there is any doubt about this conclusion, consider the person chosen to head this OSCE delegation: Representative alcee Hastings, an impeached Federal Judge, who represents Broward and Palm Beach Counties in Florida.
Neither the Secretary of State, nor the President, for that matter, can require that state and local election officials allow these foreign observers to enter the voting places. In fact, it could be illegal for these observers to enter the voting place. State law prescribes exactly how election monitors (poll watchers) are to be selected. In Minnesota, and many other states, the election law requires election monitors to be registered voters in the precinct, or district, that they monitor. These foreign monitors are not likely to be registered to vote in any U.S. election.
The american Policy Center, along with other organizations involved in the Freedom 21 Campaign, are launching a nation-wide campaign to block these foreign election monitors.
Since local elections officials are responsible for implementing state election laws, local officials have the authority, and the responsibility, to decide just who enters the voting place as monitors.
Members of organizations affiliated with the Freedom 21 Campaign are being urged to call their local election officials and ask them to not allow the foreign monitors into the voting place.
Some local organizations are planning newspaper ads to urge local citizens to join the campaign to prevent foreign election monitors from interfering with the election process. Some organizations are planning to picket the local supervisor of elections office with placards. Some are planning to deluge their State Board of Elections. In most states, local election officials are elected, and are likely to be sensitive to the demands of the local community.
It is not yet known just where the foreign election monitors will choose to descend. Most likely, the so-called battleground states will be prime targets for the foreigners. Hastings is hosting a survey group from OSCE this month to decide where the foreign monitors will be deployed.
Florida, particularly Hasting’s district, will surely be a high priority, since it was the site of such controversy in the 2000 elections.
Nothing positive can come from these foreign monitors. The disgruntled Democrats who invited them, as well as many of the OSCE member nations want nothing more than an elevated platform from which to demonize america. Many of the OSCE member nations are socialists, or worse, and the people who invited them most certainly align themselves with policy positions advanced by socialist organizations in the U.S.
This campaign to block foreign election monitors by local, grassroots organizations demonstrates how individuals can exercise the power of their vote. Local individuals elected the present supervisor of elections, and will elect the next one. as individuals let their wishes be known to their local elected officials, the officials tend to listen much more attentively than do Congressmen, or State Department appointees.
The american people, exercising their First amendment rights, can override the Democrat instigators, the State Department, and the OSCE - and send the foreign monitors packing.