Free Republic

America faces an alarming threat from election fraud. AT's Lee Cary recently pointed out the election "irregularity" problems that threaten all our states in the upcoming election cycle. This article raises the question: "What can the concerned voter/citizen do to protect the integrity of our elections?" Ten women in Wisconsin began working on that question right after the 2008 presidential election. We studied the laws, we "watched," and we gave public comment on proposed legislative and administrative changes to Wisconsin election laws. Our overall goal became to promote photo voter ID legislation and support legislators who would enact such a...

Sarah Palin had two jobs to do when she stepped to the podium Wednesday night in St. Paul to accept the Republican nomination for vice president. Her first task was to energize the party's conservative base. On that count: Mission accomplished. "It was dynamite," said Linda Ruff of Halifax. "She knocked it out of the park tonight, without question. That's what she had to do, and she did it." Ruff, first vice chairwoman of the Dauphin County Republican Party, has been involved in GOP politics for more than 20 years. In all those years, she has never seen anyone who...

COPEI1 denounces CNE for wanting to bring "mute" international observers Caracas. -- The Secretary General of COPEI, Luis Ignacio Planas, complained strongly that the government, through the National Electoral Council (CNE), wants to bring "mute" international observers for the December presidential elections. "It does not make sense to make an effort, and that we Venezuelans, with our money, should pay the passage and the per diem expenses of the observers so that they come to engage in electoral tourism in Venezuela." The question is "how can they impede the watchers from saying that which they observe in the Venezuelan...

GAZA CITY: The US proposes deploying international observers at the main cargo crossing between Israel and Gaza to prevent repeated security closures of Gaza's economic lifeline, Palestinian and Israeli officials said yesterday. Both Israel and the Palestinians support the idea. However, Israel would only consider its implementation after the release of an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas-allied militants in June. US officials in Israel had no immediate comment. The Karni crossing has been closed by Israel for long stretches this year following security alerts and attacks by Palestinian militants. Virtually all of Gaza's imports and exports go through Karni. Palestinian...

KIRYAT SHEMONA, Israel - U.N. observers in southern Lebanon called the Israeli military 10 times during a six-hour period to ask it to halt an airstrike before their observation post was hit, according to details of a preliminary U.N. report on the incident. Four U.N. observers were killed in the bombing Tuesday. During each phone call, an Israeli official promised to halt the bombing, according to a U.N. official who had seen the preliminary report, which was released to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The U.N. observers said the area within half a mile of the post was hit with...

Anarchy in the Palestinian Authority (PA) spread to the Rafiah border crossing, which was closed Friday morning after European Union (EU) observers fled 100 armed PA policemen who formed a blockade. The gunmen who stormed the compound belong to the unstable ruling Fatah party of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas. One of their members was killed in a clash Thursday between terrorists. After the compound was stormed, the EU's observers stationed at the crossing quickly fled the scene in panic while the gunmen prevented vehicles from reaching the crossing. The observers are responsible for monitoring the crossing and enforcing the agreement...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Most international experts assessing the fairness of Iraq's elections will monitor the Jan. 30 vote from the safety of neighboring Jordan, but a few observers will head to Baghdad and perhaps other Iraqi cities if security permits, U.N. and other officials said Thursday. Experts putting together the international team made clear it will not conduct the usual on-the-ground election monitoring with hundreds of foreign observers in Iraq such as was recently seen in Afghanistan. Instead, it will be assessing the vote based on more than a dozen different criteria. "We believe we can run a very...

Swiss observer says US elections free and fair The Swiss head of the international mission, which monitored the United States presidential election, says the process was for the most part free and fair. In an interview with swissinfo, Barbara Haering said the mission did, however, uncover a few irregularities. Haering led a team of more than 90 observers from 34 states under the auspices of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The team presented their preliminary findings in Washington on Thursday. Haering is a Social Democratic member of the Swiss House of Representatives, and vice-president of the...

MIAMI (AFP) - They have watched elections in the Balkans, in Asia and South Africa, but the complexity of the US presidential election every four years is enough to give a headache to even the most seasones international observer. It is "not one election, but 13,000 elections," said Canadian expert Ron Gould, a member of a delegation from the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe (OSCE (news - web sites)) in Miami for the 2004 US elections after observing some 70 elections around the world. "We like to see the setup, how organized it...

Tom Daschle has already started the ball rolling in the first of an anticipated series of lawsuits charging Republicans with suppressing minority votes. If—OK, when—Democrats claim voter intimidation or other election fraud in the presidential contest today, they will undoubtedly have at their side “independent” international monitors—who happen to be selected and overseen by two rabidly partisan American Democrats. Acting on an invitation from the State Department, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is, according to its own website, sending over 60 observers to seven states, including four of the most hotly contested: Florida, Ohio, Minnesota, and...

Just announced on fox. Big victory for us!!!

This cause originated upon the filing of a complaint for a writ of mandamus. Upon consideration of relators’ motion for an emergency peremptory writ of mandamus, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that relators’ motion be, and hereby is, granted, and that a writ of mandamus be, and hereby is, granted to compel respondent Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell to reissue and enforce his October 26, 2004 Directive 2004-45 to all eighty-eight counties insofar as it permits, in accordance with R.C. 3505.21 and 3506.13, one duly designated challenger per precinct and, after the polls close, one duly designated witness per precinct,...

MIAMI — If they can get in the door, observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will be keeping an outsider's eye on the U.S. voting process Tuesday... ...Under its commitments as an OSCE member, the United States is required to invite the scrutiny. What observers will be able to see, though, is unclear.

Allowing foreign election monitors is bad enough, but inviting disgraced former federal judge to pick them is outrageous

South Bend, IN - The South Bend Police Department says it will not maintain a presence inside local schools on Election Day. The police department originally planned on placing officers in schools that would serve as polling places; The schools will be open to the public on Election Day, which is causing concern for some parents. But the election board has asked police not to provide on-site security this Tuesday. South Bend Police say they do not want to interfere with the political process and while they will not be positioned inside schools, they will step up patrols outside polling...

- For every camera crew you see, get two people to film *them*. You cannot bring cameras to polls - will be regarded as INTIMIDATION by the other party - you cannot give them any excuses. Best thing is to get ANOTHER Witness and get a Witness Statement. This is advise from Bush/Cheney LEGAL team. Please make sure you pass this info around.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A tribal judge filed an order Friday that, if upheld, may prevent South Dakota Republican Party workers from observing Tuesday's voting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The Four Directions Committee, which bills itself as a nonpartisan group trying to increase American Indian voting, was granted the temporary restraining order against the South Dakota Republican Party and Ryan Knutson. Oglala Sioux Tribe Judge Marina Fast Horse signed the order without telling them about it ahead of time. In the document, Four Directions accuses Knutson of intimidating its workers on Wednesday at Pine Ridge by videotaping them...

Oglala order could prevent GOP poll watching on Pine Ridge CARSON WALKER Associated Press SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A tribal judge filed an order Friday that, if upheld, may prevent South Dakota Republican Party workers from observing Tuesday's voting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The Four Directions Committee, which bills itself as a nonpartisan group trying to increase American Indian voting, was granted the temporary restraining order against the South Dakota Republican Party and Ryan Knutson. Oglala Sioux Tribe Judge Marina Fast Horse signed the order without telling them about it ahead of time. In the document, Four Directions...

HARRISBURG - Republican officials yesterday accused the Rendell administration of partisan politics for appointing a major Democratic fund-raiser and noted critic of President Bush to help run the state's new election oversight efforts. Philadelphia lawyer Mark Aronchick has raised $100,000 for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, until recently advised the campaign on election law matters, and earlier this year accused President Bush of having a "contemptible pseudosincerity." Aronchick resigned from all legal representation of the Kerry-Edwards campaign on Sept. 22

TEHRAN: Iran's hardline Basij militia has written to UN secretary general Kofi Annan to ask if the Islamic republic can send observers to the US presidential election in November, a government newspaper said on Monday. "By this symbolic request, we want to ridicule the so-called democratic slogans of the American leaders," a Basij official, Said Toutunshian, told the Iran newspaper. "We want to say to the whole world that the presence of observers from the Islamic republic of Iran, the most democratic regime in the world, is necessary to guarantee the smooth running of the American elections." The Basij is...

PORTSMOUTH - Looking back at the confusion in Florida during the 2000 election, Amy Antonucci said she expected this year’s election to be different. "I would have hoped that 2000 would have been enough of a wake-up call," the Seacoast Peace Response organizer said in an interview this past week. But with just 16 days until Americans go to the polls, Antonucci said reports of incomplete registration records, efforts to disenfranchise voters, and problematic voting machines indicate that this presidential election could be just as, or even more, faulty than four years ago. "(President) Bush was talking last night in...

This is a partial transcript of an urgent request issued by the Hamilton County, Ohio Republican Party seeking volunteers to function as Poll Observers on November 2 in an effort to prevent vote fraud: "There has been an unprecedented effort to register voters for this year’s Presidential election. In Ohio, tens of thousands of newly registered voters will be going to the polls for the first time. Because of this, the possibility of significant confusion exists. It is likely that many voters in Hamilton County will be confused about where they are supposed to vote. It is for this reason,...

when the U.S. State Department invited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor the U.S. election in November, it opened the door for international intrusion into our democratic process. Since the OSCE invitation, the far-left pressure group Global Exchange announced that it too would be disbursing handpicked international observers to monitor polling stations in five key battleground states. "With this third group entering the fray," says DeWeese, "it is clear that the drive to put our nation's electoral process under the purview of some international authority is a serious goal of the left. The president of...

Washington,D.C.--The U.S. State Department has opened a Pandora's box by inviting international monitors to oversee our Election Day process, says the American Policy Center (APC). The Center cited news that seven leftist organizations recently petitioned the United Nations to monitor next month's presidential election. . . . . For the entire Canada Free Press news, story click on Leftist Groups Call for U.N. Intervention in U.S. Presidential Election

UNITED NATIONS - Seven American activist groups asked the United Nations on Monday to provide international observers for next month's presidential election. A petition delivered to the U.N. Economic and Social Council said that only the U.N. can "give us recourse to international bodies beyond those within our own national and state governments" in case of a repeat of the problems seen in the 2000 election, which President Bush won after a protracted ballot fight in Florida. Grace Ross of the Economic Human Rights Project, based in Somerville, Mass., said the non-governmental groups decided to seek action from the Economic...

Does anyone have information about the Akron Bar Association's organization of Poll "Observers" for Ohio polling places on election day? There was a notice posted at the University of Akron law School a few weeks ago saying such effort was underway sponsored by the "non-partisen" AFL-CIO, League of Women Voters and NAACP? Sounds like trouble to me.

The BBC was quick to put a negative spin on Afghanistan’s first democratic election ever, held on Saturday. The Beeb’s website headlined, “Afghan vote ends in controversy.” The story pointed out a possible election boycott by opposition candidates due to “voting irregularities.” By Sunday, the BBC was already backpedaling, announcing, “Afghan vote boycott 'crumbling'” and “Observers approve Afghan election.” Today, the Washington Post announced, “Afghan Election Concerns Subside: Several Candidates Back Off Assertions Of Voter Fraud.” The so-called “controversy” dealt with indelible ink that election workers were applying to voters’ thumbs after they cast their ballots. Some voters were able...

A Very Real Conspiracy… Written by JB Williams ©2004-10-07 As an answer to every Bill Clinton indiscretion or any democratic anti-American policy blunder, Hillary Clinton made famous the phrase “right wing conspiracy”. There never was one of course, but it always accomplished the much needed diversion from the endless stream of Clinton scandals by shifting focus off of the immediate scandal, onto the imaginary conspiracy. However, a very real conspiracy is underway in America today, it isn’t coming from those “nasty right wingers”, and the proof is all around us. The Democratic Party has been promoting the idea that Republicans...

(CNSNews.com) - They are either necessary to ensure fairness in this year's presidential election or they are a threat to U.S. national sovereignty, but regardless of your opinion, international election observers are finalizing plans to watch the American elections on Nov. 2. The State Department invited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to observe the elections. Now, the plan is for the group's representatives to be deployed in the U.S. between Oct. 30 and Election Day and stick around for a couple of extra days to provide an analysis of what went right and what, if...

The U.S. State Department cracked open the door and now the invasion has begun. Foreign election monitors determined to oversee the U.S. election this November seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Even Jimmy Carter has gotten into the act. The bottom line is that the November election is being set up to humiliate the United States and place in doubt the legitimacy of our government. Those calling for the election monitors, like Democrat California Representative Barbara Lee, argue that the move is necessary in order to "make certain that every person's voice is heard, every person's vote is...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - International observers predicted problems in the U.S. presidential election with new voting machines and warned the result could again be delayed, four years after a disputed count determined who won the White House. The Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe observers issued a report this week on preparations for the Nov. 2 vote, after a visit earlier this month. The group highlighted concerns over the machines, voter eligibility rules and allegations of intimidation aimed at lowering the turnout of ethnic minorities. "In general, the nationwide replacement of voting equipment, inspired by the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former President Jimmy Carter says that despite changes designed to eliminate voting problems in Florida - where the disputed 2000 presidential election was decided by only a few hundred votes - conditions for a fair election in that state still don't exist. "The disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely," Carter wrote in an opinion piece published Monday in the Washington Post. Touchscreen machines were introduced in Florida after the 2000 election, when punch-cards were responsible for delaying the outcome of the race between George Bush and Al Gore. Bush...

Election 2004: Democrats aim to prevent repeat of 2000 election fiasco By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press June 14, 2004 HOLLYWOOD — Recalling the contentious 2000 election, Democrats urged party activists on Sunday to find legal observers, push early voting methods and remain vigilant of any problems during the upcoming November election. Party leaders and activists discussed ways to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election in Florida, in which George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by 537 votes after a 36-day recount was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court. "Any way we cut it, these people are going to try...

Excerpt from FR thread on the Global Exchange (see comment): In what is believed to be the first mission of its kind, Global Exchange- an international human-rights organization in San Francisco that sponsors independent election monitoring overseas - has invited 20 of these "skilled election observers" to America to investigate "red-flag issues" in our electoral processes.

In America, the states are responsible for conducting elections. If there is a problem in a particular county or state, then those who are affected should direct their complaints to the state and local election officials. Rather than address her concerns to the proper authorities, however, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson and a dozen of her Democrat cohorts asked the U.N. to come monitor our elections because they "... are deeply concerned that the right of U.S. citizens to vote in free and fair elections is again in jeopardy." Apparently, this lady has more confidence in the scandal-ridden U.N. than in...

WASHINGTON - A team of international observers will travel to five states beginning Friday to monitor preparations for the Nov. 2 presidential election. The observers, organized by the San Francisco human rights group Global Exchange, will meet with voters, voting-rights groups and local officials to discuss voter disenfranchisement, the security of electronic voting machines and the influence of money in politics. Four years after the Florida recount exposed major weaknesses in U.S. election systems, they hope international pressure will help boost voter confidence and head off potential problems. "The presence of an international group really gives confidence to voters," observer...

Independent Election Observer Team Arrives in U.S. Fri Sep 17,12:34 PM ET Jim Lobe, OneWorld US WASHINGTON, D.C., Sep 17 (OneWorld) - A team of 20 independent democracy experts from 15 countries and five continents has arrived in the United States in order to observe this year's presidential election campaign. The election monitors, who have been brought here by the San Francisco activist group "Global Exchange," will be fanning out in the coming days initially to research how the election preparations are being conducted in five states. They will then return just before the actual polling November 2. The five...

The bitterness and bad feelings left from 2000's nasty, monthlong dispute over Florida's presidential vote could explode into election day chaos this November as both major parties get ready to fight that battle again, anywhere in the country. Democrats boast of having 10,000 attorneys ready to deal with any election law violations on Nov. 2, while Republicans want to have bipartisan teams of observers in every precinct where problems could occur. Various other groups, some linked to the parties and some not, also vow to do whatever it takes to keep the election clean. (snip)There's a growing concern that the...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sep 17 (OneWorld) - A team of 20 independent democracy experts from 15 countries and five continents has arrived in the United States in order to observe this year's presidential election campaign. The election monitors, who have been brought here by the San Francisco activist group "Global Exchange," will be fanning out in the coming days initially to research how the election preparations are being conducted in five states. They will then return just before the actual polling November 2. The five states include Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Missouri, and Georgia. According to Global Exchange, Florida was selected due...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sep 17 (OneWorld) - A team of 20 independent democracy experts from 15 countries and five continents has arrived in the United States in order to observe this year's presidential election campaign.

I hear that the State Department has invited the UN to send a team to monitor the US elections. I am new to the political arena, and so I have to ask, is this something that they have the legal authority to do, or is this something that only Congress should be allowed to do, if it is done at all? Finally, isn't this in some way surrendering our national sovereignty to outsiders? It seems to me that with all the attention being paid to national security these days, this move makes absolutely no sense.

What has become of all the talk about oversight of our elections?

FOREIGN OBSERVERS TO TREAT U.S. LIKE A THIRD WORLD DELINQUENT By Tom DeWeese August 30, 2004 NewsWithViews.com Here's the line in the sand. Americans can either sit down and do nothing about a planned invasion of foreign election observers or stand for their liberty by saying no. There is no middle ground. The Bush Administration, through Secretary of State Colin Powell, has given into pressure from thirteen far-left Democrat members of the House of Representatives and invited an international group to officially observe the November presidential election. Earlier this year, the thirteen Congressmen, led by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX),...

(CNSNews.com) - When the U.S. State Department invited a team of international election observers to watch this year's American presidential election, it invited "scandal, fraud and corruption to the American electoral process," a conservative watchdog group has charged. The American Policy Center (APC) is warning of a "catastrophe," in part because Florida Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings, labeled a "disgraced federal judge" by the APC, will play a prominent role in the election observing. Hastings was elected July 9 as president of the division at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that will be charged with the...

Here’s the line in the sand. Americans can either sit down and do nothing about a planned invasion of foreign election observers or stand for their liberty by saying no. There is no middle ground.The Bush Administration, through Secretary of State Colin Powell, has given into pressure from thirteen far-left Democrat members of the House of Representatives and invited an international group to officially observe the November presidential election. Earlier this year, the thirteen Congressmen, led by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), wrote a letter to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to request UN observers for the 2004 presidential...

International Election Monitoring Group Headed By Impeached U.S. Judge; Group Warns of Election Catastrophe August 25, 2004 Washington, D.C.- The American Policy Center charged on Wednesday that the U.S. State Department has invited scandal, fraud, and corruption to the American electoral process with its decision to bring in foreign election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor the November presidential election. APC, a grassroots activist organization located in suburban Washington, D.C., is alerting Americans to the dangers of inviting an international body to monitor the upcoming presidential election. APC has discovered that the president...

  Election Protection TrainingSeptember 18, 2-5 p.m. Columbia Law School 435 W 116th St. New York City RSVP now: www.ElectionProtectionVolunteer.org/NYC Dear friends, For months we've been hearing from concerned members and friends who want to volunteer where they are needed most on Election Day. At the same time, leaders in the civil rights community have been warning that unless tens of thousands of volunteers stand up and protect voting rights, minority voters will once again face disenfranchisement at the polls due to illegal disqualification, intimidation, and faulty voting machines. Many of us at Working Assets have pledged to travel to...

CNSNews.com) - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced it is sending a team of lawyers and election workers to observe Florida's Aug. 31 primary election -- and to help voters who may have problems trying to cast their ballots. "The NAACP will not allow another 2000 voter fiasco to occur," said NAACP President and CEO Kweisi Mfume. "We will have observers and lawyers on the ground to assist voters and to make sure they are not intimidated. Our goal is to see that all eligible voters register and vote, and that every vote is counted." Mfume...

Hordes of election observers flock to Florida Folks from near, far beat a path to Sunshine State to boost their man, ensure no repeat of 2000. By MONI BASU The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 08/23/04 Come Election Day, Martha Fagan won't be anywhere close to her home in Morningside. She, like thousands of other Americans, will be in the mother of all battlegrounds: Florida. Legions of labor organizers, poll watchers, high-powered lawyers and sneaker-clad volunteers from Maine to California are heading to the Sunshine State. They could be joined by an official election monitoring team from the Organization for Security...

2004 Presidential Election Under the Eye of International Observersby Chris Shugart, 19 Aug, 04When I first learned that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had been invited to monitor our presidential election this year, I couldn’t believe it. What happened? Was Franz Kafka suddenly appointed President of the United States?I was angry and confused. Who in their right mind would allow the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights meddle in our elections? Didn’t they have something better to do, like maybe monitor elections in, say, Venezuela where their presidential election is, as I speak, being hotly...