The decision not to invite observers from the OSCE puts the U.S. alongside Russia and Belarus, while the Justice Department prepares to deploy its own poll monitors.
The Trump administration declined to invite election observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to witness the midterms, blocking monitors from the regional security group for the first time in more than two decades.
Their absence comes as Democrats and election integrity experts have raised concerns about potential election meddling after the Department of Justice announced plans to send its own monitors.
Washington joins only Russia and Belarus in its decision to exclude OSCE observers.
The OSCE called the U.S. decision “regrettable” and Human Rights Watch said the move “fuels fears of serious human rights concerns around the upcoming elections.”
Sad to say, but it seems like some people I talk to still just don’t care enough. For them Trump is “bad”, but they don’t really follow the news closely enough to understand. So they won’t bother voting. It’s part apathy, but also part not understanding what’s really happening right now, which is the fault of mainstream media and propaganda.
I suspect there’s also some paralysis from not knowing what to do. Many US citizens seem to feel voting is futile, which is understandable: the Democrats seem to be scarcely better than Republicans save for a handful of issues, and some Democrats seem to be sliding to the right on those.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that more than voting is needed, but it’s much less clear on exactly what needs to and can be done with the limited capacity of the overworked, underpaid average American citizen.
If voting still works, and I hope it does, the other thing people need to do is run.
School board. Town Council. County government. State government. Friggin’ dog catcher.
We need real people. People who have worked and struggled. However, as you said…
I’m not sure how anyone could manage it.