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2004 US Presidential Election
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July 02, 2004
| US Reps Call For Election Observers

Nine House members are requesting UN election observers for this fall’s presidential election.

Recalling the long, drawn-out process in the southern state, nine lawmakers, including four blacks and one Hispanic, sent a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan asking that the international body “ensure free and fair elections in America”, according to a statement issued by Florida representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, who spearheaded the effort.

“As lawmakers, we must assure the people of America that our nation will not experience the nightmare of the 2000 presidential election,” she said in the letter.

“This is the first step in making sure that history does not repeat itself,” she added after requesting that the UN “deploy election observers across the US” to monitor the November, 2004 election.

Let me just correct though that, according to her own website, Congresswoman Johnson represents the 30th District in Texas, not Florida.



Posted by Nathan Hamm at July 2, 2004 02:41 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Let me guess: a fair election is one in which a Democrat wins.

Posted by: popd at July 2, 2004 02:57 PM

It’s not enough they try to steal the election by disenfranchising overseas military voters, then spend the next 4 years complaining thet the Rublicans actually did that, now the want to pull THIS crap?

Posted by: eric at July 2, 2004 03:07 PM

When have you ever found the Democrats to be honest and fair?

Posted by: leaddog2 at July 2, 2004 03:34 PM

Tell ‘em the UN will observe when they have resolved the Oil-for-Food Scandal. I seriously doubt that they’ll bite off on that one.

Posted by: Cap'n DOC at July 2, 2004 06:13 PM

What’s next? “International elections for POTUS”?
That would be just dandy for the Dems!

Posted by: Navaldisaster at July 2, 2004 07:01 PM

It seems people are afraid that Bush wouldn’t win if there were UN observers. I don’t see how the observers would affect the outcome of the election as long as it done correctly. It’s pretty apparent that the 2000 election wasn’t a great example of that.

Posted by: Gilberto Creque at July 2, 2004 08:37 PM

I think that the impact it would or wouldn’t have on the outcome of the election is beside the point.

It’s insulting.

Both sides are getting their panties too knotted up over 2000. Yes, Gore won the popular vote but he lost. It’s not the first time that happened and there wasn’t so much breast-beating, gnashing of teeth, and tearing of hair. Yes, there were some sketchy things going on in some places. It’s unfortunate, but far from systematic. It’s kind of nice that it balances out. Come to Philadelphia if you want to see Democrats intimidating the opposition on election day. Observers wouldn’t fix any of this.

What people upset over the outcome of 2000 seem to totally be missing is one of those peculiar things about the years that election and census matches up. The Electoral College is out of whack and reflect population even worse than it normally does, making a popular vote winner losing the EC vote more likely. That alone may be a good reason to trash that system.

I don’t know what these reps really think observers would accomplish. It seems to me to be a poorly-disguised “we’re no better than a third-world dictatorship” piece of political theater.

Posted by: Nathan Hamm at July 2, 2004 09:50 PM

Someone remind me when I voted to put the UN above the Constitution.

Posted by: jones at July 2, 2004 10:07 PM

I think it’s a good idea. Sort of like the wolves calling for more shepards. If the UN had observed last time, there would have only been one recount, and the Dems would have been nailed for all the crap they pulled.

Posted by: jeffers at July 3, 2004 02:47 AM

Thank you Nathan. Well said.

This is just more anti-Bush idiocy. Election volunteers in Afghanistan are getting murdered (to cite but one example in one struggling nation among many) and this public servant wants the Dollars for Dictators International Clearinghouse to monitor elections in the oldest and most stable democratic republic in the world.

It drives me crazy when women get into positions of authority and influence and then come up with stupid ideas like this.

Posted by: marymcl at July 5, 2004 03:25 PM

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