This is what it's come to, folks. A coalition of eight civil rights groups is worried enough about possible voter suppression that it has asked the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, an IGO affiliated with the UN, to monitor our elections.



Liberal-leaning civil rights groups met with representatives from the OSCE this week to raise their fears about what they say are systematic efforts to suppress minority voters likely to vote for President Obama. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP and the ACLU, among other groups, warned this month in a letter to Daan Everts, a senior official with OSCE, of “a coordinated political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans — particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities.”

“They [will] observe the overall election process, not just the ballot casting,” said Giovanna Maiola, spokeswoman for OSCE. “They are focusing on a number of areas on the state level, including the legal system, election administration, the campaign, the campaign financing [and] new voting technologies used in the different states.”

Where possible, OSCE teams will be on the ground on Election Day--and they won't just be watching the actual voting.Some states explicitly allow for international observers. In other cases, the OSCE has used its contacts at the local level to get permission to watch the proceedings.