# Some congressmen asked UN to supervize our election **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 19, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835 "2004-07-19T16:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/1 "2004-07-19T16:02:18Z")
A group of opposition Democrats in the House of Representatives has asked United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan to send UN observers to November’s presidential election. The congressmen are worried that we might have a repeat of the Florida fiasco in the previous Presidential election. [http://www.dawn.com/2004/07/19/int10.htm](http://www.dawn.com/2004/07/19/int10.htm) How embarrassing can it get? We have to ask the UN to oversee our own elections! It´s almost like living in a banana republic. But the Un said no… [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1149923.htm](http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1149923.htm) …because, “The policy and practice is that the United Nations responds to requests made by national governments and not the legislative branch.” So, I guess such a request would have to come from the president himself. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/2 "2004-07-19T16:16:36Z")
Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville area, recently had her remarks stricken because she was screaming about a _coup de tat_ (sp?) and the “stealing of the 2000 election.” This is the same woman who told a Hispanic member of Bush’s cabinet…“You white boys all look alike to me.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/3 "2004-07-19T17:44:36Z")
So, **ivylass** , are you saying we have nothing to worry about in Florida, comes voting time? That Jeb Bush and company will see to iit that no shennanigans will occur and every vote will be accurately tallied? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/4 "2004-07-19T22:33:28Z")
[Relevant related thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=266841) ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/5 "2004-07-20T02:01:53Z")
> [@Antiochus](#): > > So, **ivylass** , are you saying we have nothing to worry about in Florida, comes voting time? That Jeb Bush and company will see to iit that no shennanigans will occur and every vote will be accurately tallied? Were not the ballots in the primary counties in question during the last election designed by the democrats? Were not the polling places in these couties ran by democrats? ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/6 "2004-07-20T02:15:07Z")
What are the odds that Florida will determine the election _again_? How much would that suck? The fact that it happened in 2000, I think, was just God having fun with us. Jeb or not, I’m sure it was a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/7 "2004-07-20T02:24:46Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > Were not the ballots in the primary counties in question during the last election designed by the democrats? > Were not the polling places in these couties ran by democrats? Nope, nope, and nope. (Three errors: there were a _lot_ of counties in question where really weird things happened. Most had nothing to do with butterfly ballots or chad. The latter made the news, but they were just a sideshow to the what really happened.) ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/8 "2004-07-20T02:49:06Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Nope, nope, and nope. (Three errors: there were a _lot_ of counties in question where really weird things happened. Most had nothing to do with butterfly ballots or chad. The latter made the news, but they were just a sideshow to the what really happened.) Not according to this: [http://jerz.setonhill.edu/design/usability/use-ballot.htm](http://jerz.setonhill.edu/design/usability/use-ballot.htm) (Related Resources on right side of page) > [@](#): > > [Salon.com](http://Salon.com) > Some Florida Ballots Illegal, Dems Say > ( **The ballot designer, a Democrat** , wonders why nobody told her about the problems in advance – the answer is that she simply showed a sample to voters, she did not ask them to use the samples.) > > [Palm Beach County] **Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore, a Democrat** , insisted any confusion was unintentional and defended the layout of the cluttered ballots as necessary to get all the presidential candidates on facing pages while making the type large enough for [elderly] voters to read. > > She also said that if it was so confusing, someone should have pointed it out to her earlier. “We sent out sample ballots to all registered voters, and no one said a word,” she said. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/9 "2004-07-20T12:06:06Z")
> [@Antiochus](#): > > So, **ivylass** , are you saying we have nothing to worry about in Florida, comes voting time? That Jeb Bush and company will see to iit that no shennanigans will occur and every vote will be accurately tallied? Are you suggesting that there won’t be any ‘shennanigans’ in the other 49 states? Pfft. You can only hope that the corrupt members of your party are craftier and more effective than the corrupt members of the opposing party. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/10 "2004-07-20T12:49:33Z")
[More info on Corrine Brown](http://www.capitolhillblue.com/Aug1999/081699/criminalclass1-081699.htm). (Scroll down to “Part I”.) ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/11 "2004-07-20T15:03:04Z")
I’ve monitored an election in which there was widespread rigging (by an international terrorist group, no less), I’ve talked with observers and monitors from the Commonwealth, EU, and UN, and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that what happened in Florida, if it had happened anywhere else in the world, would have indeed been termed a coup d’etat. I say this as a U.S. government employee (a proud one) and as a student of international politics. Know what? If there’s been a completely honest election with no shenanigans or payola anywhere in the world in the last fifty years, I haven’t heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/12 "2004-07-20T18:21:30Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > What are the odds that Florida will determine the election _again_? Nah. Ohio. Mark my words. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/13 "2004-07-20T18:30:43Z")
Corrine Brown is an idiot. Congress has a few of them. All you have to do is listen to them for five minutes and you can smell the idiocy wafting from them. The real tragedy is that there are thousands of fellow idiots back home that keep sending them to Washington. ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/14 "2004-07-20T18:35:02Z")
[Canuck hijack] You can be assured that the next time Quebec holds one of its silly referendums about separating from Canada, that the federal government will want observers in place, given the **rampant ballot-counting fraud** perpetuated by the “Yes” side in 1995. [/CH] ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/15 "2004-07-21T04:29:21Z")
Moving this from IMHO to Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/16 "2004-07-21T09:40:13Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > This is the same woman who told a Hispanic member of Bush’s cabinet…“You white boys all look alike to me.” > > :rolleyes: Well, it’s an asshole comment, but not necessarily factually wrong. Hispanics can be white. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/17 "2004-07-21T13:47:17Z")
> [@Antiochus](#): > > How embarrassing can it get? We have to ask the UN to oversee our own elections! It´s almost like living in a banana republic. Yes, it is very embarrassing that we have legislators who are so partisan that they would stoop to this type of publicity stunt. > [@](#): > > So, I guess such a request would have to come from the president himself. Actually, it would probably have to come from Congress. Or from a specific state, since the states control the elections, not the federal government. Implicit in your statement, of course, is the idea that the request has any legitimacy in the first place… ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/18 "2004-07-21T16:18:23Z")
Time to call in Jimmy Carter! He’s tanned, rested, and ready. (And it’s just a short drive down I-75!) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/19 "2004-07-21T16:47:45Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Yes, it is very embarrassing that we have legislators who are so partisan that they would stoop to this type of publicity stunt. Yes, heaven forbid we have government officials who want a _clean_ and _honest_ election, unlike the skullduggery we got in 2000 and 2002. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835/20 "2004-07-21T17:26:27Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Yes, heaven forbid we have government officials who want a clean and honest election, unlike the skullduggery we got in 2000 and 2002. :rolleyes: Please. It was a publicity stunt. Unless its your contention that Corrine Brown is a total idiot and didn’t bother to find out that the UN would reject such a request. Get real rjung. -XT [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-congressmen-asked-un-to-supervize-our-election/255835.md?page=2)