European election observers say they won’t violate Texas laws
They can observe from a distance, they can talk with elections officials, but they can’t approach the polling place or talk to voters
(WOAI - San Antonio) — Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade says the budding international incident about the role of European observers at Texas polling places has been settled without bloodshed, 1200 WOAI news reports.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has sent three observers to Texas to watch the management of the elections and report back on what logistical and technological steps Texas is using which might help other countries streamline their elections.
The OSCE has been sending observers to Texas since 2002, but this year the situation was ratcheted up when Texas Attorney Greg Abbott threatened to arrest the observers if they broke Texas election laws, claiming that they are working in concert with fringe left-wing groups in the United States which oppose asking voters for identification at the polls.
Andrade says the situation has been smoothed over.
“OSCE understands and they have sent us a letter saying they understand the role the observers can play,” Andrade said.
She says they will be obligated to follow Texas election laws. They can observe from a distance, they can talk with elections officials, but they can’t approach the polling place or talk to voters.
“They can meet with our local election officials to share information, they cannot enter a polling place,” she said.
Full Story Here
News Radio 1200 WOAI, San Antonio
“The OSCE has been sending observers to Texas since 2002”
OK, maybe I am not the well-educated and well informed political pundit I assume myself to be. This is the first time I have heard ANYTHING about OSCE having ANY presence at elections in Texas, and you can bet that I am going to be asking my elected State of Texas officials about it too!
You see, I don’t care who is running for what. I don’t care what level the elections is that is being held, be it city, county, state or national. I am of the opinion that we don’t need ANY of these OSCE people involved in ANY way, even from a distance.
The OSCE is an affiliate of the United Nations and they, the U.N. have NO business in the great state of Texas, under ANY circumstances!
Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade may be OK with these European *observers* at Texas elections, but this Texan is none too pleased and I make NO secret of it either!
In case these people haven’t noticed; this is NOT Europe!
Maybe they’re trying to figure out how a free (at least so far) society works.
Fred, it is NOT EUROPE YET, if that no good, sorry *&^&**() is elected for a 2nd term, it may be Europe before we know it…
On a side note Fred. Early voting for Ex-pats in Israel has taken place. The results are thus:
U.S. Voters in Israel Voted Romney 6:1
May this trend continue back here Stateside.
THAT IS AWESOME!!
They mostly vote out of Florida, NY, NJ, Penn, and Ohio. Could swing a couple of states.
Maybe the want to see what a REAL free election looks like, not one that is dictated from the get-go. You know, actual democracy in action in a Representative Republic.
This is a course in US election history that needs to end soon. It not only needs to end soon, it needs to be throttled to DEATH — UNLESS the UN is monitoring elections in major Demorat cities such as CHICAGO and DETROIT and NYC and ATLANTA and LOS ANGELES and SAN FRANCISCO.
BZ