Foreign Observers Ready to Monitor US Elections

In teams of two, the observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will be deployed across the country. They will monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting of ballots and the tabulation of results at all levels.

The OSCE traditionally observes voting more in ex-Soviet states and emerging democracies. But while the US is a far cry from Kazakhstan, the mission's input is now necessary after a series of balloting problems in Florida sowed chaos and confusion in the US presidential race in 2000.

Fears that such chaos could be repeated have been heightened in the run-up to the vote on Nov. 2. On Wednesday, election officials in Florida said thousands of absentee ballots which should have been delivered to voters in one of the state's most populous counties had disappeared.

Barbara Häring, Vice President of the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly, will oversee the observation mission. She told Deutsche Welle that she and the OSCE were very aware of the responsibility placed on their shoulders.

"The quality of our report will also strengthen our power of argumentation," said Häring. "This is the only instrument we have at our disposal in order to maintain a clear course in these emotionalized surroundings."

A political issue on a political level

If the election outcome is as tight as it was four years ago, and if mishaps in the counting system also accumulate, the OSCE mission could come under fire. It could either become a possible witness for the prosecution or a possible protection shield. After all, the mission, as opposed to other international observers, is there on official invitation from the US State Department.

The Swiss parliamentarian Häring said that the observer mission would not only focus on US "problem states" during polling on Nov. 2. "We certainly will be in Florida and Ohio, but also some states where everything will be without problems, because our duty is to give a full picture," she said.

Although the US State Department invited the OSCE, a 55-nation body covering Europe, the former Soviet Union and North America, the issue was hotly debated in the US Congress.

"I believe they are quite used to having observers," said Häring. "It's just now it has another dimension because it's a political issue and it's on a political level."

Keeping a cool head

Despite the immense pressure on her mission, Häring remains composed. The OSCE works with clear criteria and it has a clear task in the United States, she said.

"We will not be influencing the current voting," she said. "In this sense, we are at best a preventative guarantee that processing occurs correctly. If we do determine flaws in our observations, then we will report this and make suggestions for elections in the future."

While Americans go to the polls, the OSCE will make no statements about whether mishaps, punch-cards or electronic voting equipment (photo) could influence the election outcome.

Häring is steering clear of controversy before the observers' preliminary findings and conclusions on the poll due Nov. 4 is released.

A comprehensive final report is expected about a month after the completion of the election process.