2012 Election

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WHITE HOUSE INSIDER: The Only Way Obama Wins This Election Is To Steal It

by Ulsterman on October 24, 2012 with 29 Comments in News.

As Benghazi news reports now pummel down upon the head of President Barack Obama, a longtime D.C. political operative who has spent the past three years attempting to correct the mistake that was the 2008 election, declares in this brief communication that the only way Obama can now be allowed a second term is if he steals the 2012 election.


(The sound of ominous thunder now hangs over the Obama White House)
____________________________

Ulsterman: Can you confirm the Benghanzi news reports? The emails? Was this the breaking story you referenced earlier? Is momentum still with Romney? How does Obama try to win this? Or does he? Please respond ASAP. I’ve kept quiet as requested. Now with media openly reporting on the emails I am hoping to get feedback directly from you again. -UM

WHI: Which question you want answered? You got a list there.

Read more in News
« CNN Rips Apart Pathetic “NEW” Obama Plan
OBAMA BENGHAZI MASSACRE COVER-UP BREAKING MAINSTREAM »

UM: You choose.

WHI: Benghazi story now breaking out even bigger. As promised. I was pissed the governor did not push the issue during last debate. Now I understand. I was not in the loop on that but that’s ok. Very smart move by the campiagn. Don’t count on media falling over themselves to make this a headline though. That will be done with them kicking and screaming. And read that first report carefully. And then smile. The Old Man made this happen. At least some of it. It’s pretty much spelled out in first report. He’s got to have logged about 30,000 miles in the last month alone. Don’t know how he’s doing it healthwise. But he is. Thank God.

UM: So how does Benghazi story now play out?

WHI: Let the roll out complete itself. Then we watch and wait. Need enough in media to confirm, question, and then demand WH response. That will take about 48 to complete. Cannot guarantee success, but like our odds. It’s the timeline that is so offensive. Security could have been deployed within 3 hrs. At the most is what I was told. 3 hrs. There was a 7 hr. gunfight. With a break in between. Simple math. The ambassador and the other three could have been saved. Obama let them die. And I go back to why. What the f-ck were they covering up out there in Libya? That’s the info I really wish I had but for now, the emails are what we got and they sure as hell pin the Obama WH to the wall on this thing.

UM: Do you remain confident with the Romney campaign?

WHI: Yes.

UM: Elaborate.

WHI: Momentum. Momentum. Momentum. We got it. They don’t. There is some feedback circling the drain from the Obama side. Operatives saying they are going to lose this thing. When people in the campaign start to voice that stuff enough that the other side is hearing it, that gives you a snapshot of where the campaigns are really at. I put the governor’s chances at 70% right now. Did you notice the Oregon news? I told you the internals on that about two weeks ago, right? Nobody in the media saw that coming. Now they are confirming Oregon is in play. Oregon! And there is a ton more like that on the map. And the Obama campaign knows it. We’re feeding it to them. A little here and there. Pissing in their cheerios every morning. Hey look guys! Now Pennsylvania is trending Romney. Enjoy the rest of your day now. They don’t know where to go from here. Having to borrow money. Obama has about 7 maybe 8 states locked up. That is it. And now whole ton of leaners in play. If the momentum holds for Romney I’m calling it now.

LANDSLIDE.

UM: Really?

WHI: LANDSLIDE.

UM: How does Obama counter that scenario?

WHI: The only way Obama wins this election is to steal it. Period.

UM: Is that a possibility?

WHI: Yes. You know enough about these people to not have to ask that.

UM: How?

WHI: Fraud. Intimidation. All that foreign money I know is coming in. Anything they can think of.

UM: You called BS on the voting machine story I sent you.

WHI: Yes I did. You know who didn’t?

UM: Who?

WHI: The Old Man.

UM: Really? Didn’t know that.

WHI: Yes. Not only did he review that information it lit a fire under his ass. There was a meeting. Five of them. Five of the biggest motherf-ckers on the planet. Talking old school sh-t here. Old World sh-t. Planets colliding. You get the picture.

UM: I have no idea what you are talking about here.

WHI: You’re the word guy. Ask him about it. See if he wants to share. He just might. Reminds me when I was a kid and I would watch those old movies about the Greek gods on Olympus fighting it out. The thunder you heard in the sky was the gods waging war against each other and all the humans would just be running for cover to keep out of their way. That’s what that meeting was. That’s how I picture it. And there had to have been a hell of a lot of thunder at that meeting.

UM: ??????????

WHI: Soros.

UM: The Old Man met with Soros?



WHI: You ask him about it. Not just him. If he wants to share he will. Just picture it in your head. Five fingers pointing down at Soros and telling him to sit the f-ck down. That there wouldn’t be any of that bullsh-t this time. This time he just shuts the f-ck up and counts the money they let him keep. I think I remember him giving you some hints about that.

UM: This is monumental what you are describing here. And I really appreciate the thunder reference. Now I’m getting the picture. Are you familiar with a show called Deadwood? It was on HBO a few years back.

WHI: No. But at my age I know all about dead wood. (Note: apologies to readers possibly offended by Insider’s attempt at humor here. -UM )

UM: There was a scene in Deadwood where the character of Wild Bill is talking to a woman and telling her to make sure she listens to the thunder. I just got a picture of the Old Man “speaking in thunder” to Soros. Don’t know if that’s how it really played out, but I really like the visual. Seems appropriate given what is at stake.

WHI: Have no idea what the f-ck your are talking about. Just keep watching for the Benghazi roll out over the next 48. Should damage Obama big time. All of it together. Momentum. Momentum. Momentum. We got it. They don’t.

Don’t forget about the riots after the election. They got that in the bin. A little legacy salvage campaign. Got it confirmed a few more times since I told you about it before.

Watch Obama call for calm. Unite the country. All that bullsh-t. Hopefully someone will catch sense enough to call it off because people will get hurt. People will die. But with this administration, they don’t give a f-ck about any of that.

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North Carolina Finds 2,214 Registered Voters over the Age of 110

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by Warner Todd Huston 23 Oct 2012 post a comment

North Carolina voters roll shows that the Tar Heel State has 2,214 voters that are 110-years-old. Most of these voters are democrats and most seem to live in four democrat-controlled counties. Some of these aged voters have already voted absentee.

Many are even older than 110. In fact, it seems that NC has an awful lot of voters that are 112, too. The Carolina Transparency project did a review of the voter rolls this year and found that there are 631 Democrats who are 112 or older. By contrast, the Republicans can only find 229 over 112 voters in the state (and "unaffiliated" found 39).

And it gets worse. Two voters -- and, yes, they've already voted in early voting -- are over 150! One in Gaston County is 154 and another in Granville County is an astonishing 160!

This isn't necessarily evidence of vote theft. It could be a massively failed voter registration system, although it is notable that the largest number of these voters just happen to be Democrats.

But what ever is the case, it is highly unlikely to have this many centenarian voters still able to get out of their wheelchairs or retirement homes and have a run down to the polling place. Something certainly seems amiss in North Carolina.


Guilford Co. voters say ballot cast for Romney came up Obama on voting machines

Posted on: 8:14 pm, October 23, 2012, by Scott Gustin, Brandon Jones and Charlie Glancy, updated on: 08:56pm, October 24, 2012



GREENSBORO, N.C. –The presidential election is just around the corner and voting issues have already become a problem in Guilford County.

On Monday, several voters complained that their electronic ballot machine cast the wrong vote. All the complaints were made by people who voted at the Bur-Mil Park polling location.

STORY UPDATE: Similar problems reported in Jamestown and Pleasant Garden.

One of the voters, Sher Coromalis, says she cast her ballot for Governor Mitt Romney, but every time she entered her vote the machine defaulted to President Obama.

“I was so upset that this could happen,” said Coromalis.

Guilford County Board of Elections Director George Gilbert says the problem arises every election. It can be resolved after the machine is re-calibrated by poll workers.

“It’s not a conspiracy it’s just a machine that needs to be corrected,” Gilbert said.

After the third try, Coromalis says she was able to get her vote counted for Gov. Romney but was still annoyed.

“I should have just mailed it in,” Coromalis said.

Marie Haydock, who also voted at the Bur-Mil Park polling location, had the same problem.

“The frustration is… every vote counts,” said Haydock.

Elections officials say the machines have been fixed as of Tuesday, and no problems have been reported since.

Early voting ends November 3.


Company taking down Ohio voter fraud billboards

Published: Tuesday, October 23, 2012

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CLEVELAND (AP) — An outdoor advertising company says it is pulling down voter-fraud billboards in the swing states of Ohio and Wisconsin after complaints that they were meant to intimidate voters.

A group of civil rights attorneys and a Cleveland city councilwoman had charged that the billboards discouraged lawful voting, especially by blacks. Polls have shown that black voters heavily support Democratic President Barack Obama.

Clear Channel Outdoor said yesterday that some 145 billboards in Cleveland, Columbus and Milwaukee were being taken down. The billboards warn: “Voter Fraud Is A Felony!” punishable by up to three and one-half years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Clear Channel Outdoor has refused to identify who is behind the billboards. However, the company said in a statement that it decided the billboards violate its policy against anonymous political ads and asked the client what it wanted to do to conform to the policy. The company said the anonymous client thought it was best to take them down.

City Councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland called the decision “fantastic news,” telling a newspaper in Cleveland that she thinks there has been damage done, but that it can be repaired.

The company has donated 10 other billboards with the message that “Voting Is A Right. Not A Crime!” The Cleveland City Council will pay for five more of the billboards, and the Washington-based Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law has said it is paying for some 36 billboards in Cleveland and Milwaukee that promote voting.

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The Left Will Use Foreign Poll Observers to Fight an Obama Defeat

October 23, 2012 By Joseph Klein Comments (109)



The presidential election has the Left in panic mode. In addition to preparing brigades of lawyers to challenge every alleged irregularity and try to reverse the voters’ verdict in court if need be, the Obama administration and its leftwing boosters are looking to an international cavalry of “election observers” to save them.

The Hill has reported that “United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S.” on Election Day. There will be at least forty-four foreign observers sent by The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is a regional inter-governmental organization that engages in democratization and human rights projects in partnership with the United Nations. Their job will be to “assess these elections for compliance with international obligations and standards for democratic elections” according to the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

The OSCE, headquartered in Vienna, is comprised of 56 participating member states encompassing not only Europe (the one continent included in its title), but also the continents of North America and Asia.

While the United States is one of the members of the OSCE, just as it is a member of the United Nations, neither the OSCE nor the United Nations has any jurisdiction to intrude into our elections. Yet that does not stop either international organization from doing so.

For example, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, Ben Emmerson, already injected himself into the U.S. election by his self-righteous declaration, quoted in an article by The Canadian Press, that a Romney victory would constitute “a democratic mandate for torture.” When I asked the spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon whether the Secretary General would be concerned that an official with a UN title was commenting on the U.S. election, he noted that “special rapporteurs are appointed by the Human Rights Council and have an independent mandate under that body. They are not appointed by the Secretary-General.”

While this high level UN official has chosen to gratuitously attack one of our presidential candidates, the OSCE is getting ready to monitor our democratic election process. They will be sending representatives not only from democracies such as France and Germany, but also from countries with dubious records on human rights and democratic freedoms such as Belarus, Serbia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

The 2012 presidential election will not be the first time that OSCE representatives have been invited by the U.S. government to observe our elections. The OSCE had representatives present during the last two presidential elections. However, this time around the Left is trying to use the OSCE observers to cry foul in the event Barack Obama loses in key battleground states.

The NAACP, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, ACLU and other like-minded leftist groups wrote a letter to the OSCE earlier this month saying “we believe it is particularly important that safeguards, including election monitoring, are in place in key areas around the country, and believe your presence would be particularly critical in districts in Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.” The letter alleged, without any credible evidence, “a coordinated political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans.” These leftist groups also met with representatives from the OSCE last week to reinforce this message.

Earlier in the year, officials from the NAACP presented their case against U.S. voter ID laws to the Islamist-dominated United Nations Human Rights Council. Hillary Shelton, the NAACP’s senior vice president for advocacy, said that the photo ID law “undercuts the integrity of our government, if you allow it to happen. It’s trickery, it’s a sleight-of-hand…we are utilizing the U.N. as a tool to make sure that we are able to share that with those countries all over the world.”

Matthew Colangelo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Obama Department of Justice, was formerly the Director of the Economic Justice Group at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. He met with OSCE officials in his official capacity during their preliminary visit in April 2012. Consistent with the ideology of the NAACP from where he came, Colangelo has compared voter ID requirements to a poll tax and literacy tests. He also overruled career Department of Justice officials who had recommended that South Carolina’s voter ID law be precleared.

The Obama administration’s relationship with the OSCE deserves special scrutiny in light of its selection of Salam al-Marayati, founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, to represent the United States government at the annual human rights conference sponsored by the OSCE this past July. The U.S. embassy in Poland, where the OSCE conference was held, put out a statement saying that the United States is “proud” to have Salam al-Marayati serving as one of the “public members in the USG delegation.”

The Islamist Salam al-Marayati, whom the Obama administration is so proud to have sent to the OSCE human rights conference, once said that Israel should have been added to the ”suspect list” for the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack:

If we’re going to look at suspects [in the 9-11 attacks], we should look to the groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents, and I think we should put the state of Israel on the suspect list because I think this diverts attention from what’s happening in the Palestinian territories so that they can go on with their aggression and occupation and apartheid policies.

The OSCE was once a leader in the fight for freedom against Communism during the Cold War. But now in the fight against the global jihadist threat to freedom, the OSCE is showing signs of trending towards a pro-Islamist stance. Approximately one year ago in Vienna, it held a High Level Conference on Countering Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims in Public Discourse.

The OSCE also issued a publication entitled “Guidelines for Educators on Countering Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims – Addressing Islamophobia through Education,” in which the OSCE, the Council of Europe and UNESCO singled out for special attention alleged intolerance towards Muslims. On October 3, 2012, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims declared that “provocative behavior purposely insulting Islam should not be justified by freedom of expression.”

The OSCE is becoming yet another dupe of the Islamists in their propaganda campaign to stifle criticism of their supremacist ideology. For its part, the Obama administration is “proud” of the 9/11 truther it sent to represent the United States at the OSCE’s human rights conference.

This same OSCE is the organization that the Obama administration and its friends on the Left so eagerly want to monitor our national elections on November 6th.


Texas AG tells UN Election Observers NOT allowed in TX polling places



Attorney General Abbott Tells International Election Observers to Abide by Texas Election Laws

Texas AG says Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has no jurisdiction over Texas elections

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today advised the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe -- a United Nations partner -- that groups and individuals from outside the United States do not have jurisdiction to interfere with Texas elections. The Attorney General's letter comes after the international group -- comprised of 56 members including EU nations and other countries such as Albania, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, the Russian Federation, Slovenia and Turkey -- announced they would be sending election observers to sites throughout the United States, including Texas, on Election Day.

Media Links
Attorney General Abbott's letter
Text of the letter:

October 23, 2012

Ambassador Daan Everts
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
UI. Miodowa 10
00-251
Warsaw, Poland

Dear Ambassador Everts:

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will reportedly dispatch election observers to the State of Texas to monitor the November 2012 general election. While it remains unclear exactly what your monitoring is intended to achieve, or precisely what tactics you will use to achieve the proposed monitoring, OSCE has stated publicly that it will visit polling stations on Election Day as part of its monitoring plan.

In April, you reportedly met with a group of organizations that have filed lawsuits challenging election integrity laws enacted by the Texas Legislature. One of those organizations, Project Vote, is closely affiliated with ACORN, which collapsed in disgrace after its role in a widespread voter-registration fraud scheme was uncovered. In September, a federal appeals court rejected Project Vote’s challenge to the State’s voter-registration regulations and allowed Texas to continue enforcing laws that were enacted to protect the integrity of the voter-registration process.

According to a letter that Project Vote and other organizations sent to you, OSCE has identified Voter ID laws as a barrier to the right to vote. That letter urged OSCE to monitor states that have taken steps to protect ballot integrity by enacting Voter ID laws. The OSCE may be entitled to its opinions about Voter ID laws, but your opinion is legally irrelevant in the United States, where the Supreme Court has already determined that Voter ID laws are constitutional.

If OSCE members want to learn more about our election processes so they can improve their own democratic systems, we welcome the opportunity to discuss the measures Texas has implemented to protect the integrity of elections. However, groups and individuals from outside the United States are not allowed to influence or interfere with the election process in Texas. This State has robust election laws that were carefully crafted to protect the integrity of our election system. All persons—including persons connected with OSCE—are required to comply with these laws.

Elections and election observation are regulated by state law. The Texas Election Code governs anyone who participates in Texas elections—including representatives of the OSCE. The OSCE’s representatives are not authorized by Texas law to enter a polling place. It may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law.

Sincerely,
Greg Abbott
Attorney General of Texas

[Ryan Ruck]

[American Patriot]

So... there is an insider at the WH. He's an old fellow. He's feeding information over to the other side and to the "media". This guy is going to be in deep trouble if they catch him or figure him out if they are as bad as he makes things out to be.

But... "Old Man"? Is he referring to Obama? That's NOT a nick name that I would give him. Reagan, Bush Sr, yes, Geoge W. Bush, No. Carter no. Nixon yes. Some people deserve the title. Some do not.

[Ryan Ruck]

Just heard that the NY Post was officially endorsing Romney and here's the front page of The Des Moines Register, not an official endorsement of Romney but it sure gives a sharp contrast between Obama and Romney:

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CNN's Erin Burnett Takes Apart Obama... (VIDEO)



Letterman just realized Obama is a liar, you guys

Courtesy of Newsbusters:



Putting aside Letterman’s claim that he automatically believes the President of the United States because he’s the President of the United States — which didn’t seem to be operative between, oh, 2001-2009 — it’s startling to hear such a steadfast Obama booster blasting him like this. Romney really did shake everything up at that first debate, didn’t he? Can you imagine Letterman saying something like this just a month ago? Suddenly, everybody realizes that they can disagree with Obama. Why, they can even do so publicly. How freeing that must feel.


Letterman is co-owner of a racing team, so maybe that’s why Obama’s latest Detroit lie rankled him, out of all the other lies. I wonder how he felt when he realized that just last month, Obama told an even worse lie right to his face?

President Barack Obama says the man behind an anti-Islam movie that ignited violence across the Middle East is a “shadowy character.”

U.S. officials blame the film in part for the violence in Libya, where U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed…
Obama made the comments in a taped interview with David Letterman being aired Tuesday night.

Yep, there were cameras and microphones and everything. Just look. (Sorry about the Italian subtitles. This was the only clip I could find that’s cued right up to that part of the interview.)




Obama lied, Dave cried.


I’m sure Letterman will go right back to condemning Romney for being a fatcat, and then jetting off for a weekend in St. Barts. But hey, it’s a start.


P.S. Hmmm, maybe Dave’s just trying to keep up with the competition?

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Obama Calls Romney a ‘Bullsh**ter’

• Posted on October 25, 2012 at 9:16am by Madeleine Morgenstern
• Comments (174)

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama speak to one of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s sons at the end of the last presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. Oct. 22, 2012. (AFP/Getty Images)



President Barack Obama called Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney a “bullsh**ter” in his latest interview with Rolling Stone magazine.


Per Politico’s Mike Allen:

Rolling Stone cover, “Obama and the Road Ahead: The Rolling Stone Interview,” by Douglas Brinkley: “We arrived at the Oval Office for our 45-minute interview … on the morning of October 11^th. … As we left the Oval Office, executive editor Eric Bates told Obama that he had asked his six-year-old if there was anything she wanted him to say to the president. … [S]he said, ‘Tell him: You can do it.’ Obama grinned. … ‘You know, kids have good instincts,’ Obama offered. ‘They look at the other guy and say, “Well, that’s a bullsh–ter, I can tell.”’”

Collin Powell Endorses Obama

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Texas threatens to arrest international monitors sent to watch US election

October 25, 2012

Source: RT



A handful of international election monitors have touched down in the US to swing by polling places next month when voters cast ballots for the president, but officials in the state of Texas have issued them a warning: you’re not welcome.

State Attorney General Greg Abbott has sent a scathing letter to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, threatening to arrest any of the election auditors that have been dispatched to America to ensure that voters won’t be disenfranchised, discriminated against or intimidated when they take to the polls on November 6.

Since the establishment of the OSCE in the 1970s, the organization has strived to ensure that democratic and lawful elections occur across the planet, routinely examining the political climate before voters take to the polls to make sure ballots can be cast fairly and without complications in numerous countries across Europe and North America. The OSCE was recently extended an invitation to come stateside from several domestic group — including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among others — because of what those organizations call “an unprecedented and sophisticated level of coordination to restrict voting rights in our nation” due largely in part to a number of newly-enacted laws that limit who and how can cast a ballot.

“Recent state-level legislative initiatives to limit early voting and introduce stricter voter identification have become highly polarized,” the OSCE writes in an interim report filed earlier this month. “Democrats are concerned that these would disenfranchise eligible voters, while Republicans believe they are necessary to protect the integrity of the vote.”

In response to the request to look over the American presidential election, the Vienna, Austria-based organization agreed to deploy 44 monitors to the United States earlier this month to watch for any wrongdoing, but those auditors are being told that Texas won’t stand for any interference from abroad.

In a letter sent this week from Attorney General Abbott, the state’s leading lawyer writes, “The OSCE’s representatives are not authorized by Texas law to enter a polling place,” warning, “It may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance.”

“Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law,” Abbott added.

The attorney general also attacked in his letter the mere notion that the OSCE — an United Nations-sanctioned group composed of 56 participation member States across the majority of the northern hemisphere — had any clout when it came to deciding what it considers a fair election.
“The OSCE may be entitled to its opinions about voter ID laws, but your opinion is legally irrelevant in the United States, where the Supreme Court has already determined that voter ID laws are constitutional,” Abbott said. “If OSCE members want to learn more about our election processes so they can improve their own democratic systems, we welcome the opportunity to discuss the measures Texas has implemented to protect the integrity of elections,” Abbott wrote. “However, groups and individuals from outside the United States are not allowed to influence or interfere with the election process in Texas. This state has robust election laws that were carefully crafted to protect the integrity of our election system. All persons – including persons connected with OSCE – are required to comply with these laws.”

US Rep. Connie Mack IV (R-Florida) echoed that opinion by penning a statement of his own, not attacking the OSCE, however, but instead inexplicably targeting the United Nations.

“The very idea that the United Nations – the world body dedicated to diminishing America’s role in the world — would be allowed, if not encouraged, to install foreigners sympathetic to the likes of Castro, Chavez, Ahmadinejad, and Putin to oversee our elections is nothing short of disgusting,” Mack wrote.

“For years the United Nations has aggressively worked against the best interests of our country and many of our allies. The UN’s actions and intentions toward the United States have been nothing short of reprehensible."

On Tuesday, Texas governor and former Republican Party candidate for president Rick Perry wrote through his Twitter account that any monitors or inspectors from the United Nations would be barred from taking part in anything involving the election process in the Lone Star State, commending the Texas secretary of state for “swift action to clarify the issue.”

Two days later, though, the OSCE fired back by voicing their concern with the state officials’ handling of the very serious issue and expressing “grave concern” over Attorney General Abbott’s threat, Courthouse News reports.
According to the letter sent from the OSCE, Texas's threat "is at odds with the established good co-operation between OSCE/ODIHR [Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] observers and state authorities across the United States, including Texas."

"Our observers are required to remain strictly impartial and not to intervene in the voting process in any way," OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Director Janez Lenarcic explains in a letter sent to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after the warnings from Texas.
Lenarcic also insisted that OSCE officials “are in the United States to observe these elections, not to interfere in them,” and called the claims from Mr. Abbott and Gov. Perry “groundless.”

Voters in Texas historically elect GOP electorates during the presidential election, and currently Republican Party candidate Mitt Romney is slated to be the expected victor next month according to the most recent polls.

http://rt.com/usa/news/texas-osce-election-abbott-231/

[American Patriot]

hehehehehehe "Slap!"

[American Patriot]

Two days later, though, the OSCE fired back by voicing their concern with the state officials’ handling of the very serious issue and expressing “grave concern” over Attorney General Abbott’s threat, Courthouse News reports.
According to the letter sent from the OSCE, Texas's threat "is at odds with the established good co-operation between OSCE/ODIHR [Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] observers and state authorities across the United States, including Texas."

Dear OSCE;

Go to hell!

Governor Perry


lol

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Europe Has 'Grave Concern' Over Texas' Election Threat


By DAVID LEE



AUSTIN (CN) - The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Wednesday expressed "grave concern" over the Texas attorney general's threat to arrest and criminally prosecute OSCE election observers if they come within 100 feet of polling places on Election Day.

The OSCE said Texas's threat "is at odds with the established good co-operation between OSCE/ODIHR [Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] observers and state authorities across the United States, including Texas."

Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw, wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about his concerns on Wednesday.

"The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable," Lenarcic wrote. "The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections."

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Tuesday threatened to arrest and prosecute OSCE observers if they come within 100 feet of a polling place on Election Day.

Abbott said that the OSCE has no jurisdiction in Texas.

"While it remains unclear exactly what your monitoring is intended to achieve, or precisely what tactics you will use to achieve the proposed monitoring, OSCE has stated publicly that it will visit polling stations on Election Day as part of its monitoring plan," Abbott wrote.

"In April, you reportedly met with a group of organizations that have filed lawsuits challenging election integrity laws enacted by the Texas Legislature. One of those organizations, Project Vote, is closely affiliated with ACORN, which collapsed in disgrace after its role in a widespread voter-registration fraud scheme was uncovered."

Abbott's letter concludes: "It may be a criminal offense for OSCE's representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place's entrance. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE's representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law."

Lenarcic replied that Abbott's concerns are "groundless."

"Our observers are required to remain strictly impartial and not to intervene in the voting process in any way," Lenarcic said in a statement.

"They are in the United States to observe these elections, not to interfere in them."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry tweeted on Tuesday: "No UN monitors/inspectors will be part of any TX election process; I commend @TXsecofstate for swift action to clarify issue."


Texas sparks international row with election observers

By Julian Pecquet
10/25/12 03:04 PM ET


Janez Lenarčič Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Texas authorities have threatened to arrest international election observers, prompting a furious response from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

“The threat of criminal sanctions against [international] observers is unacceptable,” Janez Lenarčič, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said in a statement. “The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

Lawmakers from the group of 56 European and Central Asian nations have been observing U.S. elections since 2002, without incident. Their presence has become a flashpoint this year, however, as Republicans accuse Democrats of voter fraud while Democrats counter that GOP-inspired voter ID laws aim to disenfranchise minority voters.Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott further fueled the controversy on Tuesday when he sent a letter to the OSCE warning the organization that its representatives “are not authorized by Texas law to enter a polling place” and that it “may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place's entrance.”

The letter goes on to accuse the group of having met with liberal organizations that oppose Voter ID laws. The OSCE put out an interim report last week saying that “recent state-level legislative initiatives to limit early voting and introduce stricter voter identification have become highly polarized.”

“The OSCE may be entitled to its opinions about Voter ID laws, but your opinion is legally irrelevant in the United States, where the Supreme Court has already determined that Voter ID laws are constitutional,” Abbott wrote. “If OSCE members want to learn more about our election processes so they can improve their own democratic systems, we welcome the opportunity to discuss the measures Texas has implemented to protect the integrity of elections. However, groups and individuals from outside the United States are not allowed to influence or interfere with the election process in Texas.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) also weighed in, tweeting “No UN monitors/inspectors will be part of any TX election process; I commend @Txsecofstate for swift action to clarify issue.”

In letters to Abbott and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose State Department invited the 44 election observers, Lenarčič reiterated that the group is only there to observe the elections.

“Our observers are required to remain strictly impartial and not to intervene in the voting process in any way,” Lenarčič said in a statement. “They are in the United States to observe these elections, not to interfere in them.”

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland sought to tone down the controversy during her briefing Thursday. The department is eager to avoid giving the impression that the United States is unwilling to submit to the same scrutiny it demands of others when it comes to human and civil rights.

“Since the initial issue with Texas we've received a letter, both for Secretary Clinton and one for Texas authorities, from the OSCE assuring us and Texas authorities that the OSCE observers are committed to following all U.S. laws and regulations as they do in any country where they observe elections and they will do so as well in Texas,” Nuland said. "To my knowledge [Texas] is the only state that came forward and said 'please reassure us that you're going to follow our state electoral law.' And they have now been reassured."


International vote monitors warn Texas: Don't mess with us

October 24, 2012|Michael Shields and Corrie MacLaggan | Reuters



VIENNA/AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - International election monitors took a dim view on Wednesday of Texas' threat to prosecute them if they observe voting in the state a bit too closely on November 6.

The exchange pitted the Vienna-based human rights watchdog Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe against Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who warned the OSCE not to interfere with polling in state elections.



"The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable," Janez Lenarcic, director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitoring arm, said in a statement.

"The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections."

Abbott told Reuters on Wednesday that he is considering legal action against the group if it doesn't concede that it will follow the state's laws.

"They act like they may not be subject to Texas law and our goal all along is to make clear to them that when they're in Texas, they're subject to Texas law, and we're not giving them an exemption," he said.

Abbott is skeptical about why the group wants to look at elections in Texas.

"Our concern is that this isn't some benign observation but something intended to be far more prying and maybe even an attempt to suppress voter integrity," he said.

In a letter on Tuesday to the Warsaw-based ODIHR, Abbott had noted that OSCE representatives were not authorized by Texas law to enter a polling place.

"It may be a criminal offense for OSCE's representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place's entrance. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE's representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law," he added.

He cited reports that OSCE monitors had met with organizations challenging voter identification laws. Texas' voter ID law was blocked earlier this year by a federal court, and Abbott has said he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The OSCE may be entitled to its opinions about Voter ID laws, but your opinion is legally irrelevant in the United States, where the Supreme Court has already determined that Voter ID laws are constitutional," Abbott wrote.

Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade also wrote to the United Nations-affiliated OSCE/ODIHR on Tuesday, saying that it's key for Texans to understand that the organization has no jurisdiction over the state.

Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry tweeted on Tuesday: ‏"No UN monitors/inspectors will be part of any TX election process; I commend @TXsecofstate for swift action to clarify issue."


The 56-member OSCE routinely sends monitors to elections and noted November's elections would be the sixth U.S. vote that ODIHR has observed "without incident" since 2002.

For next month's elections it has a core team of 13 experts from 10 OSCE countries based in Washington and 44 long-term observers deployed across the country, it said.
Lenarcic had shared his "grave concern" about the threat of Texas prosecutions with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the OSCE said.

"Our observers are required to remain strictly impartial and not to intervene in the voting process in any way," Lenarcic said. "They are in the United States to observe these elections, not to interfere in them."

Don't Mess With Texas

3:39 PM, OCT 25, 2012 • BY GEOFFREY NORMAN



As reported in the Hill:

Texas authorities have threatened to arrest international election observers, prompting a furious response from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

So far, the Texans are only threatening the international observers with arrest. No mention of anyone being horsewhipped. Still, a the inevitable spokesperson is, inevitably, outraged:

“The threat of criminal sanctions against [international] observers is unacceptable,” Janez Lenarčič, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said in a statement. “The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

Some friendly advice to Janez Lenarčič: Don't push it, partner. We're talking about Texas, here.

[vector7]

TENSIONS INCREASE BETWEEN TEXAS AND THE UNITED NATIONS

By: John Hayward Follow @@Doc_0
10/25/2012 02:10 PM



An international watchdog group called the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is sending monitors to observe the upcoming U.S. presidential election. They should consider spending some time at all those Democrat campaign offices that keep getting caught in vote-fraud video stings.

According to Reuters, OSCE has observed five previous U.S. elections “without incident,” but now they’re up in arms because the state of Texas told them in no uncertain terms that their monitors are subject to state law, and will be arrested and prosecuted if they interfere with the election.

“They act like they may not be subject to Texas law and our goal all along is to make clear to them that when they’re in Texas, they’re subject to Texas law, and we’re not giving them an exemption,” growled Attorney General Greg Abbott. ”Our concern is that this isn’t some benign observation but something intended to be far more prying and maybe even an attempt to suppress voter integrity.” Reports have suggested that the OSCE is meeting with groups opposed to the Texas voter ID law, currently blocked by court order, and likely destined for a hearing in the Supreme Court.

Abbott fired off a letter to the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw on Tuesday, advising them “it may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance,” and warning that violations “could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law.”

Abbott has the backing of the Texas Secretary of State, Hope Andrade, who reminded the U.N.-affiliated OSCE that they have no legal jurisdiction in Texas. Governor Rick Perry is on board as well, saying via Twitter, “No U.N. monitors / inspectors will be part of any Texas election process.”

This did not go over well in Warsaw. ”The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable,” sniffed ODIHR director Janez Lenarcic, who according to Reuters is sharing his “grave concerns” with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Don’t worry, Mr. Lenarcic, I’m sure your monitors will be better protected than U.S. diplomats in Benghazi were.

It seems odd that Lenarcic would have the idea that his monitors are above the law and immune to criminal prosecution. All he really needed to say was, “Okay, Mr. Attorney General, we get it. Never fear, I promise that my people will scrupulously respect your laws, and you won’t need to arrest any of them.”

Abbott had a bit more to say about the domestic activist groups OSCE has been trick-or-treating with, during an appearance on Neil Cavuto’s Fox News program:

Well, Neil, one of our concerns is, we don’t know exactly what they’re doing, and that is why we’re trying to raise a red flag here, because there are laws in the state of Texas, and we expect this U.N.-related partner and their affiliates to abide by Texas laws.

And we sent them a message that if they fail to do so, they are subject to criminal prosecution. But, Neil, let me make this one point, and that is, you talked about how liberal activists have gotten associated with this group. They actually had a meeting with this group in April.

The liberal activists you need to know include Project Vote. Project Vote is an affiliate of ACORN, the now disgraced organization that was involved in voter fraud. And we need to make sure in Texas we don’t have ACORN-style voter fraud taking place and we don’t take any kind of shine to this European group thinking they can come in and monitor elections in the state of Texas.

Hear that, U.N. monitors? No kind of shine is being taken to you in Texas, especially not when you hang around with such disreputable characters.

Texas threatens to prosecute international election monitors

October 25, 2012 - 20:49

Texas Governor Rick Perry tweeted: "No UN monitors/inspectors will be part of any TX election process" [AP]

International election monitors took a dim view on Wednesday of Texas' threat to prosecute them if they observe voting in the state a bit too closely on November 6.

The exchange pitted the Vienna-based human rights watchdog Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe against Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who warned the OSCE not to interfere with polling in state elections.

"The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable," Janez Lenarcic, director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitoring arm, said in a statement.

"The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections."
Abbott told Reuters on Wednesday that he is considering legal action against the group if it doesn't concede that it will follow the state's laws.

"They act like they may not be subject to Texas law and our goal all along is to make clear to them that when they're in Texas, they're subject to Texas law, and we're not giving them an exemption," he said.

Abbott is sceptical about why the group wants to look at elections in Texas. "Our concern is that this isn't some benign observation but something intended to be far more prying and maybe even an attempt to suppress voter integrity," he said.


Texas threatens election observers

Thursday 25, October 2012, 9:24 clock, Updated 11:00 clock

OSCE election monitors are not welcome in the U.S. state of Texas. You will even threatened with punishment if they are the polling approach.


The electoral process in Texas will not be "influenced" by observers. keystone / symbol picture

A Warsaw-based agency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitored regularly worldwide elections in the Member States - including those of the United States. Texas wants to prevent this now.

If OSCE experts would approach closer than 100 feet (30.5 meters) of the entrance of the polling place, this could be a criminal act, the Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott OSCE writes in an open letter. "Groups and individuals outside the United States should not interfere in the election process in Texas or influence him," according to the Attorney General.

U.S. obliged to invitation

Janez Lenarcic, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic suborganization Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), has been criticized in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the threat of the Texas Attorney General. "The penalty of OSCE / ODIHR observers is unacceptable," he complains in it. They also stand in contrast to the obligations of the OSCE member states.

"The U.S. is like all OSCE states obliged ODIHR observers to monitor their elections invite" Lenarcic warns in the letter to U.S. Secretary of State Clinton. Any concerns that the observers could influence the elections in Texas were without foundation.

"Our observers must remain strictly neutral and may in no way interfere in the electoral process," says Lenarcic. "You are in the United States to observe these elections, and not to interfere."

The OSCE sent since 2002 for the sixth time observers to elections in the United States. For the elections of 6 November 13 experts from 10 OSCE States in Washington, and 44 additional observers will be present throughout the country.

(Dpa / coro; muei)


Government
Texas Attorney General Threatens ‘Criminal Prosecution’ of U.N. Poll Observers If They Mess With Texas: ‘BRING IT’

• Posted on October 25, 2012 at 4:26pm by Jason Howerton
• Comments (154)

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott talks with the media as he leaves the Tom Green County Courthouse, in San Angelo, Texas. (Credit: AP)

AUSTIN, Texas (TheBlaze/AP) — Don’t mess with Texas elections.

That’s the double-down message Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott delivered Thursday to poll watchers affiliated with United Nations who want to come and observe voting on Election Day.

The squabble started after Abbott wrote to the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, threatening to prosecute any of its members who come near a polling location.

“The OSCE may be entitled to its opinions about Voter ID laws, but your opinion is legally irrelevant in the United States, where the Supreme Court has already determined that Voter ID laws are constitutional,” Abbott wrote.

Abbott concluded his letter by adding that the Texas Election Code governs all election participants and that OSCE officials are not authorized to enter a polling place. He said it “may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance.”

“Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law,” Abbott wrote.

The OSCE wants to go to Texas this year, like it has to poll locations across the U.S. since 2002.

The group calls Abbott’s threat “unacceptable” in a letter to the State Department. Abbott on Thursday tweeted his response: “BRING IT.”

UN-related vote monitors warn Texas: Don’t mess with us. My response: BRING IT. Official letter to follow reut.rs/WK2dj0

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 25, 2012

The State Department says it has reassured Texas that OSCE will follow state election laws.

[MinutemanCO]

I really do love Texas.

"If you land here and give us a load of crap regarding how we're holding our election, we're fixin to throw your asses in jail. Clear enough for ya?"

[vector7]

Thursday, October 25, 2012
More Opposition to U.N. Election Observers

Alabama Leader Receives Texas Support

Jim Faherty

More states are lining up behind Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard's opposition to U.N. observers monitoring the upcoming presidential election. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is warning the U.N. that they are not authorized to enter polling places, and face possible arrest.

The director of the U.N.'s Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Janez Lenarcic, expressed outrage, calling the threat "unacceptable." He says the U.S. has an "obligation" to invite observers.

In Alabama, Speaker Mike Hubbard is pledging to support legislation requiring all poll-watchers to be American citizens. That would effectively bar the U.N.'s mostly foreign election monitors from Alabama polling places.

Hubbard Moves to Block United Nations Poll Watchers from Operating in Alabama

by Cliff Sims



Montgomery – In response to news that poll watchers affiliated with the United Nations will be sent across the country to monitor balloting in various states and search for evidence of “voter suppression” during the upcoming November 6 presidential election, Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard said he will support legislation in the next session requiring all poll watchers in Alabama to hold U.S. citizenship.

“The United States is the worldwide beacon of free elections and the Republican form of government, so having an international squad from the United Nations playing referee in our elections is insulting and absurd,” Hubbard said. “We’ve been holding elections in the U.S. for the past 223 years without the United Nations playing a role or enforcing the rules, and we certainly don’t want or need them now.”

At the request of several liberal-leaning groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a United Nations affiliate, announced it will deploy a team of poll watchers to polling sites across the country in order to monitor and document potential disputes.

The poll watchers will come from Serbia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Germany and France, and other countries.

Hubbard said he will push the law in order to ensure U.N. observers are blocked from future elections in Alabama by allowing only those who are U.S. citizens to be certified as poll watchers in the state.

“If you can’t participate in an election in the United States, and if you can’t cast a vote in the United States, you really have no business serving as a poll watcher in an election being held in the United States,” Hubbard said. “It’s bad enough that Alabama remains trapped under the provisions of the Voting Rights Act, so we certainly don’t need anyone from the United Nations coming into our state and meddling in our elections, as well.”



Hubbard to UN poll watchers: We don't need you in Alabama; Texas AG: Same here

By Debbie M. Lord | dlord@al.com
on October 24, 2012 at 1:51 PM, updated October 24, 2012 at 2:30 PMEmail | Print

Alabama Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard is calling for legislation that would require people who are monitoring polls for any election held in Alabama to be citizens of the United States, according to the blog Yellow Hammer Politics and the Daily Caller.



Alabama House speaker Mike Hubbard doesn't want United Nations Poll watchers in Alabama unless they are U.S. citizens. (Huntsville Times | Glenn Baeske)Glenn Baeske,

The Huntsville Times

Hubbard's purposed legislation is in response to the news that United Nations poll watchers would fan out across the United States looking for any signs of voter suppression during the Nov. 6 presidential election.

Hubbard has some company when it comes to a dislike for the idea of poll watchers in the United States. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot told UN officials in a letter that they have no jurisdiction in Texas, and will be arrested if they interfere at polling places there, according to the Daily Caller.

“Groups and individuals from outside the United States are not allowed to influence or interfere with the election process in Texas,” Abbot wrote. “This State has robust election laws that were carefully crafted to protect the integrity of our election system. The Texas Election Code governs anyone who participates in Texas elections—including representatives of the OSCE.”

See the blog entry at Yellow Hammer Politics, and the story at The Daily Caller.

[American Patriot]

I bet our state won't do that. We have the same laws as texas... you can NOT do anything poll related within 100 feet of the buildings where polling takes place. That includes giving out papers, putting up signs or showing yourselves with pins, hats or anything else.

If you're a VOTER you can't be harassed or bothered.

No one but voters and precinct election judges are ALLOWED in the polling place.

[Phil Fiord]

Hee Haw! I really do like this. It is no sideshow. It has substance to our actual constitution. States rights.

[Ryan Ruck]

I was just watching Person of Interest which I had DVR'd from earlier in the day. Normally I skip past the commercials but as I was skipping through them I caught the word "socialism". It got my attention so I backed up to see what the commercial was.

It was a political commercial paid for entirely by Thomas Peterffy personally (he's worth $4.6 billion). It is probably one of the most poignant political commercials I've seen.

Here it is:



All I can say is, "Bravo!" I'm floored that this commercial got played during prime time TV. A huge thumbs up to Mr. Peterffy! I'd love to see it played many, many more times a day. People need to listen to the voice of someone who experienced Socialism first hand, who came to this country with nothing, and loves this country for affording him the freedom to build himself up to billionaire status from literally nothing.

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Texas attorney general demands Hillary Clinton, ‘political’ UN poll watchers respect Texas law

1:47 AM 10/26/2012Jessica Stanton



Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has officially put Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on notice: United Nations-affiliated election monitors are not above Texas law.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) recently announced it would send dozens of international poll monitors to the United States to monitor the upcoming elections.

“It appears that OSCE is under the misimpression that the State Department can somehow help its representatives circumvent the Texas Election Code,” Abbott wrote in a letter sent Thursday to the State Department. “If the OSCE does not want to follow Texas law, then perhaps it should send its representatives to another state.”

“Texas law prohibits unauthorized persons from entering a polling place — or loitering within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance — on Election Day,” Abbott wrote. “OSCE monitors are expected to follow that law like everyone else.” (RELATED: Texas attorney general warns UN poll watchers to keep their distance)

The letter was a response to foreign diplomat Janez Lenarcic, who sent a letter on behalf of the OSCE to the State Department on Wednesday. Lenarcic’s letter called on State Department officials to ensure UN election monitors would not be “restrained in their activities” in Texas on Election Day.

Lenarcic also stated that “the threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable.”

Abbott retorted that the “letter from the OSCE suggests that the international group can circumvent Texas election law by gaining unfettered access to Texas’ polling locations.”

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, Abbott said he was struck by the “attitude” of Lenarcic’s letter on behalf of OSCE, saying it was “an attitude that they could do whatever.”

TheDC asked Abbott what specific things he would like to see from the OSCE and the State Department before and on Election Day.

“[OSCE] needs to admit that they know what the Texas laws are and that they will abide by them,” he said. “Secondly, the secretary of state needs to acknowledge and understand that. And finally, OSCE must fulfill their obligation by abiding by Texas law.”

But Abbott said he has been given “no information” regarding the process these international monitors will employ.

“We do not know who is going to be there, what polling locations they are going to be at, or what they are going to do,” Abbott said.

While he noted it would be “physically impossible” to monitor the international individuals sent to Texas, Abbott said he hopes his original letter to the OSCE heightened awareness about the issue.

“One of the goals we sought when writing the first letter was to educate poll workers and poll watchers — the people assigned to polling locations on Election Day — concerning the OSCE,” Abbott said.

The OSCE has asserted that they have sent monitors to elections since 2002. Abbott said he believes that the “mission of OSCE changed” and that the organization has adopted a political agenda, pointing out that this election cycle, OSCE has specifically “articulated goals to send election officials in states that have recently implemented voter integrity laws.”

Additionally, Abbott noted that the other states that left-leaning American organizations requested the UN monitor — Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida and Ohio — are all swing states.

State Department offers monitors certain privileges that may amount to immunity



Abbott said he believes the decision to target such states is directly a result of liberal organizations petitioning for their involvement. Abbott cited a Dec. 2011 report, sent by the NAACP, which was used to request the UN be more aggressively involved in monitoring the 2012 presidential election due to “what is a coordinated campaign to disenfranchise persons of color.”

In April 2012, OSCE leaders reportedly met with several organizations — which Abbott describes as “antagonistic to voter integrity laws” — on the same issue. And earlier this month, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the ACLU and the NAACP penned a letter to an UN ambassador, accusing conservative groups of “a coordinated political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans — particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities.”

The international group also met with Project Vote, an organization closely affiliated with the now-defunct group ACORN, that has filed lawsuits challenging new Texas voter integrity laws. A federal appeals court struck down one of those lawsuits in September.

“OSCE’s affiliation with this dubious organization necessarily undermines its credibility and the independence of its election monitors,” Abbott stated.

The attorney general also noted concerns raised in Thursday’s State Department press briefing about the immunities or privileges these international monitors may receive. Such distinctions could protect the monitors from the legal ramifications of interfering with Texas Election Code laws.

“They make clear that the monitors do not have diplomatic immunity and that they must follow state law. But they vaguely suggest they have some other form of special privilege or immunity,” Abbott told TheDC.

In response to a reporter’s question about the support the State Department offers to international monitors, spokesperson Victor Nuland said the monitors could be treated like diplomats.

“Since 1996, we have also given the observers privileges and immunities when they come into the United States, certain diplomatic privileges and immunities, as we do for diplomatic personnel,” Nuland said.

When directly asked if all observers would specifically receive diplomatic immunity, Nuland responded, “No, they get certain privileges and immunities.”

Nuland did not answer follow-up questions about which monitors would receive these special privileges, or what the exact privileges are.


Friday, October 26, 2012
Texas AG Greg Abbott to UN: 'Come and take it'



The United Nations affiliate OSCE has targeted Texas as one of the states most likely to impose voter restrictions on minority races.



Voters are required to show a picture ID issued by state or federal government in order to cast a ballot, no matter what kind of DNA determines one's racial makeup.

Granted observer status in 1993, the “Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe” declared its objectives in this way.

After 11 September 2001, co-operation has been further enhanced to include active OSCE support for the work of the United Nations and its specialized bodies in the global efforts against terrorism. The shared UN-OSCE agenda includes:

Ratification and implementation of the 12 Universal Anti-terrorism Instruments and other initiatives to combat terrorism

Conflict settlement and peace-building

Early warning and conflict prevention

Small arms and light weapons

Border management

Environmental and economic aspects of security

Anti-trafficking

Democratization and human rights

Freedom of the media

What in the world does all that mean? Who in the world knows, exactly? Besides, Texas is a sovereign state of the United States of America, not the United Nations. No one in Austin invited these folks over here to check us out on such short notice.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has thrown down the gauntlet, drawn the line in the sand.

He told the international outfit that if their observers come within 100 feet of a Texas polling place, they can expect to be booked into the local casa de calaboose for an opportunity to sing for their supper in a concert appearance - in court.

Any opinions of the observers, he added, are “legally irrelevant” to the voting laws of the State of Texas.

According to the on-line publication TPM Muckraker, the internationalist's response was not long in coming.

The letter provoked a swift response on Wednesday from Janez Lenarcic, the head of the international group’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, who wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing his concern that the threat of prosecution was contrary to the U.S.’s obligations as an OSCE participant.(click highlighted areas for a peek at the letters)

“The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable,” Lenarcic said in a news release about the letter. “The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

Unacceptable?

Compared to what?

[American Patriot]

I've had to show ID every time I've voted, so I don't GET this stupid crap at all.