The Economic Human Rights Project, based in Somerville, Mass.; the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, based in Philadelphia; the National Welfare Rights Union and the Michigan Welfare Rights Union, based in Detroit; the Independent Progressive Politics Network, headquartered in Bloomfield, N.J.; Seacoast Peace Response, based in Portsmouth, N.H.; and the North Shore Massachusetts chapter of the Alliance for Democracy have presented the United Nations with a petition on Monday requesting international observers for next month's U.S. presidential election.
While I hate the very thought of US citizens asking for someone to watch a US election to ensure honesty, I hate even more the fact that, in light of the US Commission on Civil Right's report on the 2000 Florida election* and Jimmy Carter's recent comments** about the liklihood of more of the same, the groups are justified in asking for oversight.
Thoughts? Comments?
*Voting Irregularities in Florida During the 2000 Presidential Election Executive Summary
After carefully and fully examining all the evidence, the Commission found a strong basis for concluding that violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) occurred in Florida.
The most dramatic undercount in the Florida election was the uncast ballots of countless eligible voters who were wrongfully turned away from the polls. Statistical data, reinforced by credible anecdotal evidence, point to the widespread denial of voting rights. It is impossible to determine the extent of the disenfranchisement or to provide an adequate remedy to the persons whose voices were silenced by injustice, ineptitude, and inefficiency. However, careful analysis and some reasonable projections illustrate what happened in Florida. - USCCR.gov
**"Voting arrangements in Florida do not meet "basic international requirements" and could undermine the US election, former US President Jimmy Carter says. "He said a repeat of the irregularities of the much-disputed 2000 election - which gave President George W Bush the narrowest of wins - "seems likely".
"Mr Carter, a veteran observer of polls worldwide, also accused Florida's top election official of "bias"." - news.BBC.co.uk
Posts: 17475 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - (KRT) - Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood this week lost a skirmish in the court battle over whether the state's touch-screen should be equipped with paper receipts and simultaneously was hit with another lawsuit accusing her of illegally stopping would-be voters from casting ballots in the Nov. 2 election.
Fifteen Florida counties, including Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach, use touch-screens without paper receipts. The remaining 52 counties use optical-scan machines, with which voters mark their choice on a paper ballot.
Meanwhile, the Florida Democratic Party on Friday announced they have sued Hood in a federal court in Tallahassee, alleging she earlier this week wrongly advised local election officials to reject voter-registration applications in which would-be voter failed to check a box certifying their U.S. citizenship.
In Carter's article in the Washington Post about the Carter Center's report, has this to say about Hood:
"Four years ago, the top election official, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, was also the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney state campaign committee. The same strong bias has become evident in her successor, Glenda Hood, who was a highly partisan elector for George W. Bush in 2000. Several thousand ballots of African Americans were thrown out on technicalities in 2000, and a fumbling attempt has been made recently to disqualify 22,000 African Americans (likely Democrats), but only 61 Hispanics (likely Republicans), as alleged felons.
"She ordered Nader's name be included on absentee ballots even before the state Supreme Court ruled on the controversial issue." - WashingtonPost.com
Mozart, you are down there. Is it even necessary to hold the election? Florida could seemingly save a great deal of money if they just gave Bush the Electoral votes now.
Posts: 17475 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
For those who think that Carter is showing his bias in the Center's report, Carter's co-chair on the committe to investigate Florida's election problems was former President Gerald Ford.
Posts: 17475 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Honestly, with the faulty voter purge stopped, I'm noit as concerned about FL as I am ab out other places. Right now, several states look to be at least as close and likely closer contests where problems would have more impact. I don't think we need the UN involved, nor do I think they have the resources to prevent voting irregularities in a country our size with such a variety of voting methods, not only between states but also between counties in many states.
One of the most basic foundations of Democracy is having an accurate, free vote. We take it for granted that those who count and tally are being honest. We take it for granted that the numbers reflect truthfully what the people really desire. Yet we find that in the last presidential election it took a few judges to decide the vote was over and who won. We find that a small number of votes could have changed the outcome and people are still wondering if Bush really got elected or if he won just because he nagged more than Gore.
The polls are reflecting yet another close vote. CNN reported just yesterday these numbers:
48% Bush, 48% Kerry. No comment on the other 4%.
I think that Florida is only the tip of the iceberg here. The only reason why Florida is in the spot light is because in 2000 it became the state to make or break the vote and out of that came all of those recounts and observations on how the Chad Ballot was questionable.
Then this year some guy in the Administration made a big blunder suggesting that we post-pone the elections if there is a terrorist attack/threat on election day.
Then we have the new push for electronic voting which just 4 years ago everyone was saying would be at least a decade away and not acceptable due to all of the security issues. Not today, today it appears to be secure and perfect.
If this was another country the USA would be the first to step in and insist on keeping the Machine of Democracy running smoothly by standing there counting over the shoulder, posting armed guards, etc.
4 years ago I was a true patriot, I believed that for all of its ills that America was somehow immune to attacks on Democracy. Today I feel that we need some assurances that we are getting what we vote for.
Posts: 3988 | Location: Leaving land, heading for the ocean | Registered: 06-03-02
"Secretary of State Glenda E. Hood, a Republican appointed by the president's brother Gov. Jeb Bush, recently ruled that for registrations to be deemed complete, new voters must not only sign an oath attesting to their citizenship, but also check a box that states the same. Unlike many counties, which have chosen to ignore the directive, Duval County chose to enforce it." (Duvall County is where, in 2000, 42 percent of 27,000 ballots thrown out came from four heavily Democratic black precincts. - DG)
Florida law now allows to cast ballots up to 15 days before the election. The law does not specify how many early voting sites there must be. So, Republican Orange County, having about the same number of registered voters as Duval County, has opened nine early voting locations. Duval County will have one, even though Jacksonville is geographically the largest U.S. city, covering 840 square miles.
Republican Dick Carlberg, acting election chief, "said that additional sites cannot be added this close to the election. The office does not have time to train staff or install equipment." But Volusia County spokeswoman Deanie Lowe said that the election office is considering adding three sites to vote early. Volusia County has been sued in federal court over the same issue by the NAACP.
The Washington Post found nearly three times the number of flagged Democratic registrations as Republican. Of course, in 'some counties,' voters are told to come in and re-register. Some, but not all.
It appears that not only was President Carter right, but that the election fraud and voter disenfranchisement started early this time.
Posts: 17475 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
We all remember how close it came when the Reps got it the last time, it had to go to court, even then the decisions were appealed, finally we all think G.W. Bush got it, thanx to his brother Jeb and his crew.
Now there is a Democrat fever that has built up down here, (call it revenge if you will) .
Even Michael Moore will be down here making a documentary on the ongoing "false plays" if it ever happens .It will probably be the most exciting election that I will have withnessed in my lifetime.
Posts: 6335 | Location: u.s.a, south Florida | Registered: 06-03-02
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