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OFFICIALS FROM AZERBAIJAN, ALBANIA, KAZAKHSTAN WILL WATCH U.S. ELECTION TO MAKE SURE IT'S FREE AND FAIR
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com
October 22, 2012
Subscribe to Patrick Goodenough's posts
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev meets with President Obama
at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in April 2010. (AP
Photo/File)
(CNSNews.com) - When American voters go to the polls next month, among
those observing the election will be monitors from four countries
judged by the veteran democracy watchdog Freedom House as "not free"
and another six it regards as "partly free."
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
observers will "assess these elections for compliance with
international obligations and standards for democratic elections."
They will also look into voter-identification and other laws which
critics have labeled "racially discriminatory."
In a recent letter to the head of the OSCE mission, Dutch diplomat
Daan Everts, liberal groups decried what they called "a coordinated
political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans -
particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities,
low-income people, women, young people, persons with disabilities,
and the elderly."
Everts heads a team deployed by the OSCE's Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to monitor the elections at
the invitation of the U.S. government.
The mission comprises 13 "international experts" based in Washington
and another 44 "long-term observers" in states across the nation to
monitor the presidential and congressional elections.
Twelve of the 44 observers come from four countries which Freedom House
ranks "not free" - Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan;
or from six that are deemed "partly free" - Albania, Armenia, Bosnia,
Georgia, Macedonia and Ukraine.
"Observers will assess these elections for compliance with
international obligations and standards for democratic elections,
including the commitments agreed to by all the OSCE participating
states, and with national legislation," the ODIHR said in a statement.
Observers will meet with relevant federal and state officials,
political parties and candidates, and also monitor "a cross section
of media outlets, with quantitative and qualitative analysis of their
political and election-related coverage."
"In line with ODIHR's methodology for limited election observation,
the mission will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation
of the voting, counting, and tabulation on election day," it
explained. "Mission members will, however, visit a number of polling
stations across the country to follow election day procedures."
The OSCE has observed U.S. elections since 2002.
In an interim report on Friday, the observer mission stated that
"[r]ecent state-level legislative initiatives to limit early voting
and introduce stricter voter identification have become highly
polarized. Democrats are concerned that these would disenfranchise
eligible voters, while Republicans believe they are necessary to
protect the integrity of the vote."
In a letter to Everts on October 12, activist groups including the
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) urged him
to deploy the monitors "in those states where restrictions on voting
have been most extensive," and cited Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Texas and Wisconsin.
"Poll monitors should be particularly vigilant about requests for, and
acceptance of, identification of those seeking to vote, particularly
if certain groups, such as racial minorities and young voters, are
being targeted," they wrote.
The signatories, who included Leadership Conference president Wade
Henderson and NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous, raised concerns
about conservative anti-voter fraud groups that have been mobilizing
volunteers as poll-watchers.
"The valuable work of an impartial body like the OSCE in validating
the reliability and fairness of our nation's election systems has
proven indispensable over the years," they told the OSCE official.
"We believe that in this hyper-partisan climate, it is more important
than ever that we maintain the integrity of our elections and take
the necessary steps to ensure that the right to vote is protected
for all Americans - a right for which many have given their lives."
The appeal to the OSCE follows a NAACP initiative to draw the attention
of the United Nations' Human Rights Council (HRC) to what it calls
"voter-suppression" measures.
In September, a NAACP delegation visited the HRC in Geneva, urging
the body to investigate "racially-discriminatory election laws" in
the U.S., with a particular focus on those affecting people with
felony convictions. The delegation said the HRC should then make
recommendations to the U.S., aimed at restoring the political and
voting rights of all citizens.
A NAACP delegation also visited the HRC last March, when Jealous
addressed the council on voter-ID and other laws. Among his audience
were representatives of countries whose citizens have long been denied
a free vote, including Cuba, China and Saudi Arabia.
'Not free'
Each year the Washington-based Freedom House evaluates political rights
and civil liberties in the nations of the world, and then ranks them as
"free," "not free" or "partly free."
Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, has been
evaluated as "not free" every year since 1995.
Freedom House's 2012 report notes that Kazakhstan's 71 year-old
president "won a new five-year term in an April 2011 snap election,
reportedly receiving 96 percent of the vote. Many potential challengers
had been disqualified or boycotted the election, leaving three mostly
symbolic opponents."
"Kazakhstan is not an electoral democracy," it says. "The constitution
grants the president considerable control over the legislature, the
judiciary, and local governments. Under the current constitutional
rules, President Nursultan Nazarbayev may serve an indefinite number
of five-year terms."
Kazakhstan is providing three of the 44 OSCE observers who will
monitor the U.S. elections.
While Kazakhstan received Freedom House's second worst score (six
out of a possible seven) for political rights and third worst score
(five out of a possible seven) for civil liberties, Belarus ranked
even worse in 2012, getting a seven for political rights and a six
for civil liberties.
Situated between Russia and Poland, former Soviet republic Belarus
is sometimes dubbed "Europe's last dictatorship."
"Public protests following the deeply flawed December 19, 2010,
presidential election led incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who claimed
to have won a new term, to orchestrate an extensive crackdown on all
forms of dissent," Freedom House says. "Most visibly, three former
presidential candidates received prison terms of five years or more
for their roles in the demonstrations."
Belarus is providing one of the 44 OSCE observers who will monitor
the U.S. elections, as are "not free" Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com
October 22, 2012
Subscribe to Patrick Goodenough's posts
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev meets with President Obama
at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in April 2010. (AP
Photo/File)
(CNSNews.com) - When American voters go to the polls next month, among
those observing the election will be monitors from four countries
judged by the veteran democracy watchdog Freedom House as "not free"
and another six it regards as "partly free."
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
observers will "assess these elections for compliance with
international obligations and standards for democratic elections."
They will also look into voter-identification and other laws which
critics have labeled "racially discriminatory."
In a recent letter to the head of the OSCE mission, Dutch diplomat
Daan Everts, liberal groups decried what they called "a coordinated
political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans -
particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities,
low-income people, women, young people, persons with disabilities,
and the elderly."
Everts heads a team deployed by the OSCE's Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to monitor the elections at
the invitation of the U.S. government.
The mission comprises 13 "international experts" based in Washington
and another 44 "long-term observers" in states across the nation to
monitor the presidential and congressional elections.
Twelve of the 44 observers come from four countries which Freedom House
ranks "not free" - Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan;
or from six that are deemed "partly free" - Albania, Armenia, Bosnia,
Georgia, Macedonia and Ukraine.
"Observers will assess these elections for compliance with
international obligations and standards for democratic elections,
including the commitments agreed to by all the OSCE participating
states, and with national legislation," the ODIHR said in a statement.
Observers will meet with relevant federal and state officials,
political parties and candidates, and also monitor "a cross section
of media outlets, with quantitative and qualitative analysis of their
political and election-related coverage."
"In line with ODIHR's methodology for limited election observation,
the mission will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation
of the voting, counting, and tabulation on election day," it
explained. "Mission members will, however, visit a number of polling
stations across the country to follow election day procedures."
The OSCE has observed U.S. elections since 2002.
In an interim report on Friday, the observer mission stated that
"[r]ecent state-level legislative initiatives to limit early voting
and introduce stricter voter identification have become highly
polarized. Democrats are concerned that these would disenfranchise
eligible voters, while Republicans believe they are necessary to
protect the integrity of the vote."
In a letter to Everts on October 12, activist groups including the
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) urged him
to deploy the monitors "in those states where restrictions on voting
have been most extensive," and cited Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Texas and Wisconsin.
"Poll monitors should be particularly vigilant about requests for, and
acceptance of, identification of those seeking to vote, particularly
if certain groups, such as racial minorities and young voters, are
being targeted," they wrote.
The signatories, who included Leadership Conference president Wade
Henderson and NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous, raised concerns
about conservative anti-voter fraud groups that have been mobilizing
volunteers as poll-watchers.
"The valuable work of an impartial body like the OSCE in validating
the reliability and fairness of our nation's election systems has
proven indispensable over the years," they told the OSCE official.
"We believe that in this hyper-partisan climate, it is more important
than ever that we maintain the integrity of our elections and take
the necessary steps to ensure that the right to vote is protected
for all Americans - a right for which many have given their lives."
The appeal to the OSCE follows a NAACP initiative to draw the attention
of the United Nations' Human Rights Council (HRC) to what it calls
"voter-suppression" measures.
In September, a NAACP delegation visited the HRC in Geneva, urging
the body to investigate "racially-discriminatory election laws" in
the U.S., with a particular focus on those affecting people with
felony convictions. The delegation said the HRC should then make
recommendations to the U.S., aimed at restoring the political and
voting rights of all citizens.
A NAACP delegation also visited the HRC last March, when Jealous
addressed the council on voter-ID and other laws. Among his audience
were representatives of countries whose citizens have long been denied
a free vote, including Cuba, China and Saudi Arabia.
'Not free'
Each year the Washington-based Freedom House evaluates political rights
and civil liberties in the nations of the world, and then ranks them as
"free," "not free" or "partly free."
Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, has been
evaluated as "not free" every year since 1995.
Freedom House's 2012 report notes that Kazakhstan's 71 year-old
president "won a new five-year term in an April 2011 snap election,
reportedly receiving 96 percent of the vote. Many potential challengers
had been disqualified or boycotted the election, leaving three mostly
symbolic opponents."
"Kazakhstan is not an electoral democracy," it says. "The constitution
grants the president considerable control over the legislature, the
judiciary, and local governments. Under the current constitutional
rules, President Nursultan Nazarbayev may serve an indefinite number
of five-year terms."
Kazakhstan is providing three of the 44 OSCE observers who will
monitor the U.S. elections.
While Kazakhstan received Freedom House's second worst score (six
out of a possible seven) for political rights and third worst score
(five out of a possible seven) for civil liberties, Belarus ranked
even worse in 2012, getting a seven for political rights and a six
for civil liberties.
Situated between Russia and Poland, former Soviet republic Belarus
is sometimes dubbed "Europe's last dictatorship."
"Public protests following the deeply flawed December 19, 2010,
presidential election led incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who claimed
to have won a new term, to orchestrate an extensive crackdown on all
forms of dissent," Freedom House says. "Most visibly, three former
presidential candidates received prison terms of five years or more
for their roles in the demonstrations."
Belarus is providing one of the 44 OSCE observers who will monitor
the U.S. elections, as are "not free" Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress