Please Do Not Monitor My Vote
The State Department, for reasons I cannot fathom, asked the UN to help monitor the upcoming national elections.
First, let us note that there are pros and cons to this having to do with perception, and let us acknowledge they exist and not dwell upon them.
Second, let us recognize that most of the people pushing for this -- both voters and elected representatives -- believe Bush was not legally elected, and are therefore stupid. This does not, however, directly reflect on the issue.
Third, let us recall that the U.S. has never looked favorably on any foreign influences on our political process, including -- but not limited to -- funding, oversight, legislation, etc. Congress is the ultimate body deciding our law, and everything must pass through them, and anything any foreign body wants us to do must pass through it. The UN could not exercise any power whatsoever over our process without Congressional approval.
Fourth, let us ask whether this is a Constitutional imposition on the states. The federal government, as was made very clear in Bush v Gore, has no say in elections unless a state's actions in regard to that election are in violation of federal law. I see no legal reason the states should have to comply with any federally imposed monitoring, and if I were in control of a state, I would simply disallow it.
Some might say the federal government has the implied power to monitoring elections, since the Constitution gives it the power to punish abuses. But that would be like saying the government has the right to search your house for unreported income just because it has the Constitutional power to tax your income (and the implied power to penalize abuses). It may be the case then that in a state where abuses have been proven, that mandated monitoring may be part of a federally imposed remedy, but that also implies a case going to court, and finding against the particular state, and it would only apply to that state.
First, let us note that there are pros and cons to this having to do with perception, and let us acknowledge they exist and not dwell upon them.
Second, let us recognize that most of the people pushing for this -- both voters and elected representatives -- believe Bush was not legally elected, and are therefore stupid. This does not, however, directly reflect on the issue.
Third, let us recall that the U.S. has never looked favorably on any foreign influences on our political process, including -- but not limited to -- funding, oversight, legislation, etc. Congress is the ultimate body deciding our law, and everything must pass through them, and anything any foreign body wants us to do must pass through it. The UN could not exercise any power whatsoever over our process without Congressional approval.
Fourth, let us ask whether this is a Constitutional imposition on the states. The federal government, as was made very clear in Bush v Gore, has no say in elections unless a state's actions in regard to that election are in violation of federal law. I see no legal reason the states should have to comply with any federally imposed monitoring, and if I were in control of a state, I would simply disallow it.
Some might say the federal government has the implied power to monitoring elections, since the Constitution gives it the power to punish abuses. But that would be like saying the government has the right to search your house for unreported income just because it has the Constitutional power to tax your income (and the implied power to penalize abuses). It may be the case then that in a state where abuses have been proven, that mandated monitoring may be part of a federally imposed remedy, but that also implies a case going to court, and finding against the particular state, and it would only apply to that state.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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