"âŠTexas will not be inundated with foreigners 'interfering' at every polling place. At most, we will see a few highly professional and experienced observers who will watch and not interfere in the election process in any wayâŠ
"Iâm left to wonder, however, why anyone would be worried about a few folks wandering around watching an election.
"Vibrant democracies should not worry about conducting elections in the open for all to see. If Abbott is, as he says, proud of the âmeasures Texas has implemented to protect the integrity of electionsâ he should be equally proud to have any and all come watch the process firsthandâŠ" - Cynthia Aikon, an associate professor of law at the Texas Wesleyan University
Multiple states, including Arizona, Iowa and Ohio, plan to make certain international election observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) go nowhere near state polling places on Election Day. At least three states, Arizona, Iowa and Texas, have warned observers they could be criminalized for being within one hundred feet of polling places.
The OSCE is a body, which the United States is a founding member. Observers have been sent to the United States to observe US elections since 2002. But, now, Republicans in states where voter suppression could potentially occur are suggesting to Americans these people are here to violate American sovereignty as part of some left-wing ACORN conspiracy.
On October 23, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wrote a letter to the OSCE informing them that Texas would use state codes and the law to ensure observers were prevented from accessing polling places. Abbott stated, âIt may be a criminal offense for OSCEâs representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling placeâs entrance. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCEâs representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law.â
The motivation for threatening observers stemmed from Abbottâs disgust with the fact that OSCE had met with Project Vote in April, a group âclosely affiliated with ACORN, which collapsed in disgrace after its role in a widespread voter registration fraud scheme.â Project Vote challenged Texasâ voter registration regulations but that challenge was rejected. OSCE identified âVoter ID laws as a barrier to the right to voteâ and Project Vote wrote a letter urging OSCE to âmonitor states that have taken steps to protect ballot integrity by enacting Voter ID laws.â He called the international observersâ opinion âlegally irrelevantâ in the United States,
Naturally, the threat prompted a response from Ambassador Janez LenarÄiÄ, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The ambassador stated the threat was âat odds with the established good co-operation between OSCE/ODIHR observers and state authorities across the United States, including in Texas.â The threat ran contrary to Texasâ obligations as a participating state.
In a letter to the State Department, LenarÄiÄ said, âThe threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable. âThe United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.â
