United Nation monitors will be present in Texas?

[R_P_A_S]

I sorta stumble on this stuff via twitter. I can't seem to find a reliable website or news organization reporting on this. Do you guys know if this is true? and find it kinda strange that this will take place?

My girlfriend was making a big deal about it and I can't really find any evidence to counter her. What do you guys make of it?

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/21/united-nations-organization-set-to-monitor-us-polling-places-on-election-day/

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/21/united-nations-organization-set-to-monitor-us-polling-places-on-election-day/

[ВАЛТЕР]

If this is true, I don't see why there is a big deal of it. The UN monitors elections in countless countries in order to observe election practices and methods. The US population for some reason sometimes seems to think that it is exempt from following the same rules as everyone else.

[KurtFF8]

Texas official stares down election monitor straw man (http://www.salon.com/2012/10/25/texas_official_stares_down_election_monitor_straw_ man/)




Who wants to mess with Texas?
Dark, mysterious forces, if you believe certain state politicians. Republican Senate candidate and possible Tea Party poseur (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-what-kind-of-conservative-is-ted-cruz/2012/08/14/c611eef2-e645-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html) Ted Cruz has taken a brave stand (http://www.tedcruz.org/blog/2012/01/20/stop-agenda-21-the-constitution-should-be-our-only-%E2%80%9Cagenda-%E2%80%9D/) against Agenda 21, which he describes as a George Soros-funded plot to give the United Nations sovereignty over America’s golf courses and paved roads.
And now the Texas Tribune reports (http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/2012-elections/international-observers-draw-warning-ag/) that Republican state Attorney General Greg Abbott wants to make sure a group of European election monitors don’t get to see anything untoward. In a letter to the group he wrote:
“While it remains unclear exactly what your monitoring is intended to achieve, or precisely what tactics you will use to achieve the proposed monitoring, [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] has stated publicly that it will visit polling stations on Election Day as part of its monitoring plan,”
…“The Texas Election Code governs anyone who participates in Texas elections — including representatives of the OSCE,” Abbott wrote. “The OSCE’s representatives are not authorized by Texas law to enter a polling place. It may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law.”
Abbott was last seen in Salon (http://www.salon.com/topic/greg_abbott/) unsuccessfully suing the federal government to protect his state’s exclusionary voting rights laws.
According to an OSCE press release, the group’s election monitoring mission began on Oct. 4 and will end in early 2013 with the release of its report. Most of the 58-member team will be dispersed across the country to monitor voter registration, “election disputes” and the media.
With only about one monitor per state, it’s not clear why they’d spend much time in Texas where in the latest state polls (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/elections/) Mitt Romney leads by 19 points and Ted Cruz is up by 24.

[Anarcho-Haruhi]

I honestly doubt the United Nations is going to be doing this for some secret malevolent purpose. >.> They can hardly get their shit together doing regular things, let alone something sinister.

[piet11111]

Dont they monitor all elections be they democratic or not ?

[Regicollis]

"If you have nothing to hide you should have nothing against being monitored" - Isn't that what the reactionaries always say about surveillance?

[Os Cangaceiros]

You'd think that the GOP morons would love this, with all their moaning about the spectre of voter fraud and all....

[Red Commissar]

Yeah, there's going to be some international observers. However they aren't UN as the right wing blogosphere, pundits, and twiterati is going nuts over and the media has picked up on accordingly, they're OSCE. OSCE has ties UN (they report results to the UN) but technically a separate organization with different members and codes- a part of OSCE is responsible for monitoring elections in developing countries or "at risk" nations. US is a member of OSCE and often uses the observers as a way to beat up on certain strongmen rulers. OSCE observers sometimes go to elections in developed member nations too, sometimes as a way to train their observers or when contentious legislation is being considered that could have an effect on voting.

This is not the first time OSCE observers have been in the states, they have observed various state and even local before. In 2004 they were present in the US elections too. As I understand it they came on the invitation of Project Vote, a group that has been involved in the battle over voter ID laws. Groups that have supported them at one point or another are favorite targets of conservative pundits- ACLU, NAACP, even ACORN. Those of you who've kept up with election nonsense, there's the unspoken assertion that Obama rigged the election in 2008 by these folk through such organizations which they used to justify voter ID laws and other things to cut down on voter fraud they suddenly became so concerned about.

Texas has been one of the states that has tried to push through a voter ID law that got struck down by federal courts. Presumably Project vote was worried that even though this proposal was not signed into law, that some election centers would try to intimidate voters without photo ID. Or maybe they just wanted to OSCE to observe the way different local political groups were going to handle their own observers at polling stations- several groups on both the "left" and the "right" in the US have their own clowns who observe stations to try and sensationalize supposed fraud. Remember the new black panther nonsense some of them picked up on in 2008 over in Philly?

As OG said in the post before mine, one would think they would welcome observers? No, they're involved in the international conspiracy to undermine American sovereignty...

Kurt has posted an article about my state's Attorney General throwing a shit fit over them, threatening arrest if their sole observer entered Texas. Apparently his interpretation was that these observers had some ulterior motive and had a god dumb tweet to boot:

UN poll watchers can't interfere w/ Texas elections, I'll bring criminal charges if needed. Official letter posted soon. #comeandtakeit

Come and take it indeed :laugh:

More recently he's said this:

Even Belarus denied Visas to European Vote Monitors. Why should they be allowed here? http://t.co/WJKJns0h
a day ago

That's right, he's comparing Texas to Belarus. Why can't Texas do it? I mean, we're similar to Belarus, with what a one-party republican state and a dumb person heading the state.

The rest of his twitter feed his him (or his press crew) trying to make it look like he's protecting Texas from this malevolent crew. These clowns can't escape the law under my watch!

Yeah. Basically Abbott is implying that the OSCE observers are trying to manipulate results in a solidly Republican state. Note that the other parts of Texas government handled this much more quietly- they just merely said that OSCE observers would have to operate by rules all observers would. Not that they are not welcome at all.

BTW Abbott's legal contributions have often been highly political in nature anyways, appealing to republican base. One of the most well known ones was his representation of Texas in a case that went up to the Supreme Court over whether or not they could stick the Ten Commandments infront of the state capitol which he won. More recently it's been over the "Obamacare" stuff with the other AGs from Republican-controlled states that they pushed to the Supreme Court.

Some articles from here in Texas

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/2012-elections/international-observers-draw-warning-ag/

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/2012-elections/battle-between-state-election-observers-continues/

http://www.texasobserver.org/datelinehouston/is-poll-watching-voter-suppression-greg-abbott-says-no-wait-yes

[DasFapital]

don't worry Alex Jones is on the case. The globalist illuminati scum will be defeated and America will go back its constitutional values.:thumbup1:

[GPDP]

Sometimes, living in Texas is suffering. From my sides hurting from laughter at the idiocy coming out of our politicians' mouth, that is.

[Raúl Duke]

This is why the US is....i don't even fucking now.

The right is all "voter fraud everywhere, give us that voter ID card!"

Now that observers are coming to check up on the election:
"Oh noes, it's that muslim kenyan socialist plot allowing the UN to take over 'Merica!"

:rolleyes:
If you think I'm joking, just the other day right-wing people pushed the idea that Obama was going to "take away people's guns" and "give it to the UN" and I heard ignorant people repeat this stuff at public places in Florida. Allegedly, this is how some people viewed some sort of routine arms/munitions sale to the UN, as a conspiratorial plot.

The real issue about voter ID cards is that it has little to do with voter fraud and a lot to do with disenfranchising people. That's why now they do an about-face over these electoral observers.

[the last donut of the night]

the american voting infrastructure is actually quite inefficient

[doesn't even make sense]

Well obviously the UN ZOG Illuminati are going to let all the illegal immigrants vote 12 times each so Obama can steal the election. The only thing we can do now is stock up on canned food and buy gold. :rolleyes:

[Prometeo liberado]

the American voting infrastructure is actually quite inefficient

You're close but waaay off. American "democracy" is a streamlined machine meant to do exactly what it does. It convinces the world and the American populace that this is the "model" of participatory democracy. Then they export this product for mass consumption.

[Red Commissar]

This is why the US is....i don't even fucking now.

The right is all "voter fraud everywhere, give us that voter ID card!"

Now that observers are coming to check up on the election:
"Oh noes, it's that muslim kenyan socialist plot allowing the UN to take over 'Merica!"

:rolleyes:
If you think I'm joking, just the other day right-wing people pushed the idea that Obama was going to "take away people's guns" and "give it to the UN" and I heard ignorant people repeat this stuff at public places in Florida. Allegedly, this is how some people viewed some sort of routine arms/munitions sale to the UN, as a conspiratorial plot.

The real issue about voter ID cards is that it has little to do with voter fraud and a lot to do with disenfranchising people. That's why now they do an about-face over these electoral observers.

Yep, that's true. It's difficult sometimes explaining people this though, they simply fall back on "well it's not too hard to show your driver's license if you are legal" and don't look at the big picture. It's kind of like a quixotic windmill with the GOP, attacking these nonexistent issues claiming that voter fraud is a significant issue and that mechanisms don't exist to prevent it. Like when they passed laws banning Sharia in their states.

The OSCE observers earn scorn from conservatives alone for that, but I'm still puzzled as to how they think a group could influence results for Obama, much less in a solidly Republican state like Texas, with a handful of observers. Heck, it's probably only a solitary observer since they're split up across the country.

Then again elected officials in Texas aren't exactly the brightest in the pot, we have plenty of examples to boot (including a past president and the current governor). Texas is actually a shining example of the utter bankruptcy of elected officials and an argument in favor of true, popular control. There's always the angle that workers couldn't be able to do anything on their own without educated officials to handle it for them, but I guarantee you couldn't do worse than Abbott.

But seeing how all Abbott really needs is the correct letter in the parenthesis when he runs for office, he has nothing to worry about in the future.

I've always been amused by these claims that the UN is subverting the US and there is an insidious cabal undermining its authority... I always felt the it was the opposite. I mean the US or its buddies hasn't exactly been prevented by the UN from doing anything in the past.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

I honestly doubt the United Nations is going to be doing this for some secret malevolent purpose. >.> They can hardly get their shit together doing regular things, let alone something sinister.

Anyway, the US has total hegemony in the UN. The UN is synonymous with US Imperialism.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

You're close but waaay off. American "democracy" is a streamlined machine meant to do exactly what it does. It convinces the world and the American populace that this is the "model" of participatory democracy. Then they export this product for mass consumption.

According to Greg Palast's reports, 6 Million Americans' votes were not counted in the 2008 election. Recently, Mitt Romney has ties with Voting Machine company; the machines use all the names of convicted convicts and purge all the persons with that same name who happen to have "BLA" next to their name, "Black". Also, names that are considered "unusual" (names the Bourgeoisie never hear in their millionaire club; Asian, Hispanic, African American etc.) are not allowed to register to vote. Only 1/3 of Hispanics in the State of Wisconsin are registered to vote. Young people, immigrants and students (people who are disproportionately progressive), have a hard registering as well. If you make the wrong sign (an "X" instead of a cross etc.), it is automatically counted as "Spoiled". Millions of votes ballots cast by ethnic minorities (who disproportionately, for obvious reasons, vote for less racist politicians) are not counted each year. Welcome to Bourgeois "Democracy" and "Free Elections".