America Joins the Third World 
~ by James Banzer

   The third-world is notorious for having such
questionable voting practices that international
monitors are often sent in to make sure all goes well
during elections. Until now, no one in possession of
their right senses would have considered such a
practice necessary during a U.S. presidential
election.

   Yet some people in this country now consider it
essential. They seem to be abandoning our cherished
right to self-government.

   This year will be the first time that international
vote monitoring of a presidential election will occur
in the United States. It is something about which
Americans should be voicing outrage, but it has
received scant scrutiny.

   One can expect to see Jimmy Carter taking treks to
Haiti or Nicaragua to make sure that elections are on
the up and up. After all, those are the lands of coups
and questionable elections.

   But this is America. There's a world of difference
between the United States and places where potential
strongman dictators are likely to hijack an election.

   The problem is that there is a small band of people in
the United States with no apparent faith in our
democratic republic. That group consists of thirteen
congressional Democrats. Astonishingly, they insisted
on, and got, commitment for election monitors during
the United States election on November 2.

   Predictably, Republicans reacted negatively. Knowing
that the thirteen wanted United Nations observers on
our shores for the 2004 presidential election,
Republicans pushed for, and got, a ban on federal
funding of U.N. election monitors.

   Then a federal department operating in a Republican
administration figured out another way to get
non-domestic monitoring of the presidential vote. The
decision came from the U.S. Department of State. It
would have seemed inconceivable for such a demand to
be granted. But it was.

   The monitors will be from an organization most
Americans know nothing about. It is called the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The group includes nations in Europe, Asia and North
America.

   American sovereignty is the issue that should be of
concern. The U.S. is perfectly able to ensure free and
fair elections without the help of foreign powers.

   The constitutionally-guaranteed electoral college
system of electing presidents has worked well without
outside help for almost two-hundred-thirty years. It
is wrong to do anything that could possibly jeopardize
that.

   Elections are never perfect. Votes get stolen from
time to time. It's not unknown for there to be dead
voters. Politicians sometimes buy votes. By and large
though, those problems are satisfactorily solved, and
it is generally done pretty well by state elections
officials and law enforcement authorities.

   Thanks to the U.S. Department of State and the
instigating group of thirteen, sovereign enforcement
is threatened. The OCSE could be watching when you
cast your next ballot.

   Come on America. An organization that includes the
likes of Latvia, Azerbaijan, Herzegovina, Kazakhstan
and Canada should not be monitoring our national
elections. We are better than this.

090704

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After a long career in broadcast news, James Banzer is
now writing on his observations about the world around
us. He currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky. You
may send him e-mail at jamesbanzer@yahoo.com.