As in years past, it appears increasingly likely that we will have some International Observers in the U.S. during our elections this coming November. This is a good thing, and should be welcomed — but as you can imagine, it may not be.
In 1990 the United States government committed to inviting International Observers for our national elections, as did all the other 57 Participating States in the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), which arose out of the Helsinki Negotiations in the early 1970s. OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, based in Warsaw, Poland, is charged with planning and carrying out election-related activities, and ODIHR has observed some 300 elections since it developed the current methodology, which is widely accepted as the standard for all international election Observation missions. (Full disclosure: I served as the Deputy Director of ODIHR from 2002 to 2005, and I have participated in roughly a dozen of their election observations — most recently in Kazakhstan during their Parliamentary Elections earlier this year.)
After 1990, ODIHR initially concentrated its attention on the countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union -- all of which are OSCE Participating States, and which were undergoing sometimes awkward transitions from authoritarian rule to brighter or murkier shades of democracy. They still represent the largest part of those 300 Missions which have been deployed. After the “hanging chad” debacle and other alarums and excursions in our Presidential Election in 2000, however, increasing clamor from those States “East of Vienna” led to a well-deserved re-balancing of OSCE election activity, including the US for the first time. Thus the OSCE has observed only six elections in the U.S. -- in 2002, ‘04, ‘06, ‘08, ‘10, ‘12, and ‘14, with Missions of greater or lesser size.
Earlier this year, in line with our international obligations, the State Department issued a formal invitation for the OSCE to send an Observation Mission for this year’s General Elections in November. To prepare, ODIHR sent a Needs Assessment Mission in May to assess the situation and evaluate what type of Mission would be appropriate, if any. The Report of that NAM has now been published, and, for those of us who care about how our elections are administered, it makes for interesting reading. (Did you know, for example, that there will be an estimated 185,000 Polling Stations established on Voting Day?)
The report contains brief sections on the Legal Framework; Electoral System; Election Administration; Voter Rights, Registration and Identification; Candidate Registration; Alternative Voting Methods; New Voting Technologies; Election Campaign; Campaign Finance; the Media; and the possibilities for election Observation. (In this context, its important to note that only eight states and the District of Columbia explicitly permit international Observers to have access to Polling Stations — California, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota and Washington. Other states delegate the authority to grant access to local jurisdictions, or leave it undecided.)
The report concludes with a recommendation that OSCE deploy a full-scale Observation Mission, with a Core Team of a dozen analysts based in Washington, D.C., plus some 100 Long-Term Observers to be deployed around the 50 States and a hoped-for number of 400 Short-Term Observers from all across the 57 Participating States. They would spend roughly one week in-country, being briefed by the Core Team, deployed in 200 binational teams of two, visiting polling stations and preparing reports on E-Day, then returning for debriefings and departure.
As mentioned earlier, these Missions follow a well-established methodology, with a precise set of questions to be asked and issues to be observed at each Polling Station that is visited -- whether in Kentucky or Kazakhstan, Moscow or Massachusetts. These issues include secrecy of the ballot, ease of access for voters (including those with disabilities), accuracy and transparency of the Vote Count and Tabulation, etc.
In normal practice, the Observation Mission prepares a Statement of Preliminary Findings which is issued at a Press Conference the afternoon following Election Day. This Statement will draw from the reports sent in by the STO teams from across the country during E-Day. If there are in fact 200 STO Teams, and each visits ten Polling Stations during the 12-hour polling period, that will provide 2000 reports; this is usually enough to develop a reasonable statistical summary of how things went. (Of course, that fact that we have fifty States makes generalizations more difficult, but there could be some issues or places that stick out and merit comment.) A Final Report, which can include reactions from host government officials, is usually issued two to three months following the election, and includes formal Recommendations for steps which the host government should take to improve its election practices and bring them closer in line with international standards.
Possible Reactions: As can be imagined, not everyone in our vast and diverse country is as welcoming of International Observation as I am. Indeed, back in 2002, a gentleman named Oliver North did his best to raise a stink about the issue, with little success. The fact that this is an international obligation, undertaken by the U.S. Government back in 1990 under the Administration of President George H.W. Bush, does not mean that today’s Republicans still like the idea. It could make for interesting comments from various candidates. I make no predictions, but...
In addition, there could be other International Organizations which might be interested in observing our elections. The Organization of American States (of which the US is a Member), or maybe The Commonwealth (we’re not members, having left the British Empire a good while ago), or perhaps l’Organisation de la Francophonie (Louisiana is a member, I believe). I doubt the Organization of Islamic States would suggest it, on the other hand. Still, it could be interesting.
Watch this space.
