Sunday, October 21, 2012

From The Observation Platform

Republicans are already crying foul at the thought of UN election observers being anywhere near US polling places, because apparently what would be welcome and necessary in any other "democratic" country doesn't apply to The Most Awesome Country Ever.

United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week. The intervention has drawn criticism from a prominent conservative-leaning group combating election fraud.

Wingnut election fraud?  UNPOSSIBLE.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a United Nations partner on democratization and human rights projects, will deploy 44 observers around the county on Election Day to monitor an array of activities, including potential disputes at polling places.

Liberal-leaning civil rights groups met with representatives from the OSCE this week to raise their fears about what they say are systematic efforts to suppress minority voters likely to vote for President Obama.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP and the ACLU, among other groups, warned this month in a letter to Daan Everts, a senior official with OSCE, of “a coordinated political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans — particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities.”

Considering Republican voter ID laws are designed to act as additional hoops in order to disenfranchise poor and minority voters, it's nice to know somebody's watching.  44 observers aren't anywhere near enough, but it's a start.  The real issue is getting people informed, and to the polls with that information and identification.

See what efforts are going on where you live to get Souls to the Polls.

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