Why the UN will not oversee our Nov elections (re-post)

[Editor's Note: I posted this over the weekend under a different title, but I think many people have not seen this article and may be under the mistaken impression that the UN could observe our elections. Changed title and re-arranged article quotes.]

Last Friday's SF Chron had a new article that actually names one of the reps requesting the UN observe our Nov. elections, and clarifies why we're not likely to get ANY oversight from the UN:
SF Chron: Lawmakers ask UN to monitor elections.

And coaxing the United Nations to keep an eye on the U.S. election will be difficult.

[Oakland/Berkeley Rep. Barbara] Lee and the other House members told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that "the right of U.S. citizens to vote in free and fair elections is again in jeopardy." U.N. policy, however, prohibits the body from observing a nation's election unless asked by the country's government -- "not just a few elected officials," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

Thank god my rep is once again doing the right thing without me having to harass her all the time - but good gravy, the UN can't observe an election unless it's invited by the government? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the government is rigging an election, they're not likely to invite the UN to observe it!

However, it looks like some domestic orgs are taking up the call to duty:

The San Francisco human rights organization Global Exchange is inviting more than two dozen international voting experts to observe pre-election conditions and issue a report before election day. Votewatch, a nonpartisan outfit in Burlingame, will be recruiting several hundred volunteers to measure the accuracy of different voting systems.

For the first time in its history, the 200,000-member Common Cause "has made election monitoring a major project," said spokeswoman Mary Boyle. The liberal People for the American Way has been working for three years to recruit "several thousand" poll-watching lawyers and "tens of thousands" of volunteers, most stationed in two dozen key states, said President Ralph Neas.

We should all volunteer or donate some turkee to one of these orgs. Some links for the organizations mentioned:

Global Exchange

Votewatch

People for the American Way

Common Cause

•  Sheez

  U.N. policy, however, prohibits the body from observing a nation's election unless asked by the country's government

  Words fail me.

  by NYCO on Sat Jul 10, 2004 at 02:57:45 PM PDT

•  My single moment of

  light heartedness in the extended unpleasantness of the '00 election was the day Castro offered to "send election monitors" to help us out.  I laughed out loud.  Got to hand it to a survivalist dictator, hasn't lost his sense of humor...
  In '00 I was all for a snap election replay for the whole state of FL or counting every damned county with, say, Ford and Jimmie parked in the state.  Or any two worthies from the two parties... I just recalled they had joined up, gone several times for election monitoring here and there in the world, we should make use of them.
  Whatever, our side blew it.  Let's not this time.

  by Marisacat on Sat Jul 10, 2004 at 03:08:04 PM PDT