[lbo-talk] Re: US lawmakers request UN observers for November 2nd Presidential election

[Michael Pugliese]

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/tx30_johnson/EBJStateDeptMonitorElections.html
Washington, D.C. - In a major development impacting the electoral process,  
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has garnered assurances from the State  
Department that an international election observation mission will be  
deployed within the United States to monitor the upcoming Presidential  
elections. The pledge comes in response to a Congressional letter to  
Secretary of State Colin Powell, requesting him to make the official  
request to the United Nations for election observers to monitor this  
fall’s vote.

“I am pleased that Secretary Powell is as committed as I am to a fair and  
democratic process,” said Congresswoman Johnson.  “The presence of  
monitors will assure Americans that America cares about their votes and it  
cares about its standing in the world.”

“We anticipate that once again the Organization for Security and  
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will deploy an election observation mission  
to the U.S. as it did for the November 5, 2002 elections,” the Department  
of State wrote the Congresswoman. The letter was authored by Paul V.  
Kelly, the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs for the U.S.  
Department of State. “OSCE members, including the United States, agreed in  
1990 in Copenhagen to allow fellow members to observe elections in one  
another’s countries. Consistent with this commitment, the United States  
has already invited the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and  
Human Rights (ODIHR) to observe the November 2, 2004 Presidential  
Elections.”

The OSCE is the largest regional organization in the world with 55  
participating nation-states from Europe, Central Asia and North America.  
Its membership’s roll comprises a veritable who’s who among nations.   
Member nations include the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom,  
Ireland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Turkey  
and the Holy See.

In early July Congresswoman Johnson spearheaded an effort in the U.S.  
House of Representatives requesting the UN to deploy election observers  
across the United States this November to monitor the 2004 Presidential  
election. Twelve Members of Congress from across the country joined the  
Texas lawmaker in signing the letter to Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General  
of the United Nations.

“We share with you and your colleagues a profound commitment to  
strengthening democracy, not only overseas, but also here at home,” the  
State Department wrote Congresswoman Johnson. “To remain vibrant and  
strong, democracies must ensure that citizens have the ability to exercise  
their vote in free, fair, and transparent elections.”
-- 
Michael Pugliese