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US lawmakers request UN observers for November 2 presidential election

Fri Jul 2, 2:22 AM ET Add Politics - AFP to My Yahoo!



WASHINGTON (AFP) - Several members of the House of Representatives have requested the United Nations (news - web sites) to send observers to monitor the November 2 US presidential election to avoid a contentious vote like in 2000, when the outcome was decided by Florida.


AFP/File Photo



Recalling the long, drawn out process in the southern state, nine lawmakers, including four blacks and one Hispanic, sent a letter Thursday to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) 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 United States" to monitor the November, 2004 election.


The lawmakers said in the letter that in a report released in June 2001, the US Commission on Civil Rights "found that the electoral process in Florida resulted in the denial of the right to vote for countless persons."


The bipartisan commission, they stressed, determined "that the 'disenfranchisement of Florida's voters fell most harshly on the shoulders of black voters' and in poor counties." Both groups vote predominantly Democratic in US elections.


The commission also concluded, the lawmakers added, that "despite promised nationwide reforms (of the voting system) ... adequate steps have not been taken to ensure that a similar situation will not arise in 2004 that arose in 2000."


Thirty-six days after the November 7, 2000 presidential election, after several state court interventions and vote recounts in numerous Florida counties, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Republican George W. Bush, awarding him all of Florida's 25 electoral votes.


The ruling tipped the balance against Democratic contender and then vice president Al Gore (news - web sites), who with 267 electoral votes lost to Bush's 271, only one more than the minimum 270 needed to clinch the presidential election.




they want the anti-american, anti-semitic, despotic, oil for food stealing un
to oversee our elections.

notice something else. while it has been confirmed they ar all democrats the story doesnt mention party affiliation.

uh... since when did the UN earn the right to participate in an AMERICAN ELECTION? i can see it now, one day there will be a global ballot to determine the US Presidency...

that would be a horrible day

They only petitioned them? So this is not a definite thing. This is the USA for crying out loud. Not Iraq or Afghanistan where they have LEGITIMATE concerns over elections. I seriously doubt the UN will be allowed by our federal govt to oversee the election. Ridiculus!
...Jennifer...

That's ridiculous.

this is just deplorable grandstanding by the Democrats to foster the image of racism. That's their life blood, fueling the "poor little me" syndrome. There is still racism in this country but any American has the opportunity to make a great life for themselves if they are willing to work. It's not going to be given to you unless your born into wealth. You have to EARN IT! The notion that minorities are kept from the polls is just ludicrous.

It seems that our dear Congressjerks are forgetting the Constitution which
specifically provides that the running of our elections are up to the individual STATES which means that the UN would have to get permission from each of the 50 Governors (or Legislatures). Finally, while discussing the disenfranchisement of voters in FL, let us also investigate the enfranchisement of thousands of DEAD Democratic voters in places like Chicago. Isn't "vote early and often" the byword of the Democrats?

Steve

Unbelievable!

And then there's that Federal judge in Missouri, who ORDERED the polls in St. Louis to remain OPEN after the legal limitation (7 pm) to accommodate the long lines; he was overruled by a three-judge panel three hours later, but the votes were NOT challenged.

Add the homeless in Milwaukee, who were given cigarettes to go and vote (in many cases under other person's names)...out-of-state street people shuttled into Philadelphia, given voter-registration cards in return for food...the list goes on, and on...all Democratic Party bosse's BS.

Both the democrats and the Republicans are a bunch of liars IMHO. There is NO such thing as an honest politician!!

Oh, but it gets "better"...remember the Gore-Lieberman's partially-successful attempt to throw out U.S. servicemen's absentee ballots in Florida and elsewhere?

I expect more of the same this time around...and we DON'T need the UN to screw things up.

Eddie Bernice Johnson, who spearheaded the effort, is identified as a Florida representative. If you look her up, she's a democrat from Texas, not Florida.

I wonder how much more of this article is incorrect....