| Topic: |
Science > Abortion |
| User: |
"james g. keegan jr." |
| Date: |
10 Aug 2004 09:06:46 PM |
| Object: |
International team to monitor presidential election |
******
remember the pre-bush days when we used to monitor the elections of others?
at least this request seems to be a national admission that we never
elected the creep.
***********
International team to monitor presidential election
Observers will be part of OSCE's human rights office
From David de Sola
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A team of international observers will monitor the
presidential election in November, according to the U.S. State Department.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was invited to
monitor the election by the State Department. The observers will come from
the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
It will be the first time such a team has been present for a U.S.
presidential election.
"The U.S. is obliged to invite us, as all OSCE countries should,"
spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir said. "It's not legally binding, but it's a
political commitment. They signed a document 10 years ago to ask OSCE to
observe elections."
Thirteen Democratic members of the House of Representatives, raising the
specter of possible civil rights violations that they said took place in
Florida and elsewhere in the 2000 election, wrote to U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan in July, asking him to send observers.
After Annan rejected their request, saying the administration must make the
application, the Democrats asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to do so.
The issue was hotly debated in the House, and Republicans got an amendment
to a foreign aid bill that barred federal funds from being used for the
United Nations to monitor U.S. elections, The Associated Press reported.
In a letter dated July 30 and released last week, Assistant Secretary of
State Paul Kelly told the Democrats about the invitation to OSCE, without
mentioning the U.N. issue.
"I am pleased that Secretary Powell is as committed as I am to a fair and
democratic process," said Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas,
who spearheaded the effort to get U.N. observers.
"The presence of monitors will assure Americans that America cares about
their votes and it cares about its standing in the world," she said in a
news release.
Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California agreed.
"This represents a step in the right direction toward ensuring that this
year's elections are fair and transparent," she said.
"I am pleased that the State Department responded by acting on this need
for international monitors. 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."
OSCE, the world's largest regional security organization, will send a
preliminary mission to Washington in September to assess the size, scope,
logistics and cost of the mission, Gunnarsdottir said.
The organization, which counts among its missions conflict prevention and
postconflict rehabilitation, will then determine how many observers are
required and where in the United States they will be sent.
"OSCE-participating [nations] agreed in 1990 to observe elections in one
another's countries. The OSCE routinely monitors elections within its 55-
state membership, including Europe, Eurasia, Canada and the United
States," a State Department spokesman said.
The spokesman said the United States does not have any details on the size
and composition of the observers or what countries will provide them.
OSCE, based in Vienna, Austria, has sent more than 10,000 personnel to
monitor more than 150 elections and referenda in more than 30 countries
during the past decade, Gunnarsdottir said.
In November 2002, OSCE sent 10 observers on a weeklong mission to monitor
the U.S. midterm elections. OSCE also sent observers to monitor the
California gubernatorial recall election last year.
More recently, OSCE monitored the elections in Northern Ireland in November
and in Spain in March.
http://cnn.allpolitics.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?
action=cpt&title=CNN.com+-
+International+team+to+monitor+presidential+election+-+Aug+8%2C+2004
&expire=-1&urlID=11261375&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2004%
2FALLPOLITICS%2F08%2F08%2Finternational.observers%2F&partnerID=2001
.
|
|
| User: "John Savard" |
|
| Title: Re: International team to monitor presidential election |
11 Aug 2004 09:51:29 AM |
|
|
On 11 Aug 2004 02:06:46 GMT, "james g. keegan jr." <keegan@nycap.rr.com> wrote,
in part:
remember the pre-bush days when we used to monitor the elections of others?
at least this request seems to be a national admission that we never
elected the creep.
All this means is that there are some foreigners who will stoop to anything to
humiliate the U.S..
John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html
.
|
|
|
| User: "Ray Fischer" |
|
| Title: Re: International team to monitor presidential election |
11 Aug 2004 11:48:26 AM |
|
|
John Savard <jsavard@excxn.aNOSPAMb.cdn.invalid> wrote:
<keegan@nycap.rr.com> wrote,
remember the pre-bush days when we used to monitor the elections of others?
at least this request seems to be a national admission that we never
elected the creep.
All this means is that there are some foreigners who will stoop to anything to
humiliate the U.S..
Oh gee, another paranoid nutcase.
--
Ray Fischer
rfischer@sonic.net
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "james g. keegan jr." |
|
| Title: Re: International team to monitor presidential election |
11 Aug 2004 10:18:23 AM |
|
|
jsavard@excxn.aNOSPAMb.cdn.invalid (John Savard) wrote in
news:411a3251.1730042@news.ecn.ab.ca:
On 11 Aug 2004 02:06:46 GMT, "james g. keegan jr." <keegan@nycap.rr.com>
wrote, in part:
remember the pre-bush days when we used to monitor the elections of
others? at least this request seems to be a national admission that we
never elected the creep.
All this means is that there are some foreigners who will stoop to
anything to humiliate the U.S..
really? how did they force us to invite them to oversee our elections?
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
