U.N. Partner to Monitor U.S. Elections for Voter Suppression by...Conservatives?

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The Hill is reporting that The Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE), a United Nations partner on democracy and human rights projects, will be deploying several dozen observers across the United States amid concerns of voter suppression.  Alerted by left-leaning civil rights groups, they are apparently on the lookout for "systematic" efforts to prevent minorities from voting for President Obama.

The Hill continues:

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP and the ACLU, among other groups, warned this month in a letter to Daan Everts, a senior official with OSCE, of “a coordinated political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans — particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities.”

The request for foreign monitoring of election sites drew a strong rebuke from Catherine Engelbrecht, founder and president of True the Vote, a conservative-leaning group seeking to crack down on election fraud.

“These activist groups sought assistance not from American sources, but from the United Nations,” she said in a statement to The Hill. “The United Nations has no jurisdiction over American elections.”

The observers, from countries such as Germany, France, Serbia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, will observe voting at polling places and other political activity. [Emphasis added]

State law varies on the issue, but OSCE officials say they have secured the necessary invitations and will respect state law where they are not welcome.

The move comes amid a heated debate over voter ID laws, which Republicans say minimizes voter fraud, and Democrats say discriminates against minorities.  In 2008, the New Black Panthers were accused of voter intimidation, but the Justice Department failed to take action.

Many on the right want voter ID laws precisely ​to​ ensure fair elections, and are offended by the implication that they would be the ones to manipulate the outcome.  Moreover, the small government advocates aren't exactly thrilled that a United Nations partner organization will be stepping in.

Though, really, what inspires more confidence in fair elections than representatives from Kazakhstan?

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