Elections Board: European Observers Here To Observe, Not Monitor Elections | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: The author of this fine report is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor of the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

OSCE reps first observed U.S. elections in 2002; eight will be in N.C.

    RALEIGH     While there will be a handful of European officials in North Carolina observing tomorrow's elections, a state elections official says their role will be to observe and learn about American elections. "This is more of an educational opportunity for these persons," said Don Wright, general counsel for the State Board of Elections. "They are not monitoring the elections."

    The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly plans to have eight members observing the Nov. 6 election in North Carolina, according to a document forwarded to Carolina Journal by the State Board of Elections.

    Their itinerary calls for the officials to arrive today, meet with state elections officials this afternoon, observe tomorrow's election, and leave the following day, Wright said.

    Other OSCE members met earlier with state election officials, representatives of the two main political parties, and election advocacy groups.

    "They are not monitoring the elections," Wright said. "They are not like political party observers, [who] are governed by general statute."

    Wright said that the OSCE representatives may enter a precinct to observe for educational purposes but will not be authorized to oversee or respond to any voting problems or reported irregularities.

    Any voting problems that arise will be handled by North Carolina elections and precinct officials, who are required by law to be registered voters and therefore U.S. citizens, Wright said.

    The announcement that there would be observers from other nations has caused an uproar in some circles. For example, The Hill reports that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sending a letter to OSCE saying that its representatives weren't authorized 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 members of the OSCE parliamentary delegation that plans to be in North Carolina on election day hail from Austria, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Liechtenstein, and Spain.

    The OSCE has 56 member nations, including the United States, in Europe, central Asia, and North America. While it is not a member of the United Nations, it does partner with the U.N. on certain international projects.

    Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections, notes that members of the organization have been observing elections in the United States since the presidency of George W. Bush.

    According to information provided by the State Board of Elections, the organization has observed five sets of elections in the United States since 2002.

    The delegation planning to observe this week's elections weren't the only representatives from OSCE to visit the state, Wright said. Two representatives were in North Carolina Oct. 15-22, Wright said.

    Wright said the two met with state elections officials as well as top officials from both the state Democratic and Republican parties. They also visited some local elections offices and advocacy groups.

    Susan Myrick, elections analyst at the John W. Pope Civitas Institute, said that the two met with her and Francis DeLuca, Civitas' president.

    Myrick said the meeting went well.

    "They weren't sinister," Myrick said. "They didn't give me any type of bad feelings. They were very interesting to talk with."

    She said that the two just wanted to get a feeling of what Civitas did concerning elections.

    "One of the most interesting things was their surprise that we don't have to show identification" at the polls before voting, Myrick said.

    Myrick said that she told them about Civitas' transparency vote tracker. She said she thought it was a good thing to have observers in the state.

    "I believe people from other countries should observe our process, because I believe it will help them," Myrick said.

    Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, said scheduling conflicts prevented his office from meeting with the observers.