You know how we, as the greatest free democracy in the world, usually send election monitors to other countries to ensure fair and free voting? Well…
The Bush-Kerry race might not, at first glance, seem to have much in common with tumultuous past elections in places such as Haiti, Nicaragua and East Timor. But come Nov. 3, the United States will share a distinction with those countries: It will join the ranks of nations whose elections were overseen by international monitors.
Responding to the 2000 presidential deadlock, at least two international groups plan to monitor the Nov. 2 U.S. elections.
A delegation for Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based nongovernmental organization that has monitored elections in 10 countries, arrived here this week. The group will fan out to several swing states to investigate what spokesman Jason Mark said were serious and deepening concerns about minority disenfranchisement, the integrity of electronic voting machines and other issues that have “undermined confidence” in U.S. elections. Mark called the effort “unprecedented.”
The group’s 20-person team includes: Brigalia Bam, chairwoman of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa; Damaso Guerrero Magbual, who heads the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections, the oldest election monitoring group in Asia; and Caerwyn Dwyfor Jones, a county election official in Wales who helped supervise Cambodia’s first free elections as well as elections in other countries.
For the first time, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe also plans to observe the U.S. elections.
The question is, what can these groups do if they find fraud?
