Populist politicians are to keep an eye out for “election manipulation” as part of a multinational mission to monitor and protect the integrity of the U.S. Midterm elections.
Populist MPs from Europe have said that they will keep a lookout for “election manipulation” as part of a mission to monitor the United States’ midterm elections this coming Tuesday.
The parliamentarians will be stationed in the United States as part of an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission in the country, which will send over 100 politicians to America in order to ascertain that the nationwide polling has been conducted in a fair and robust manner.
Described as being one of the largest regional security organisations in the world, the OSCE has 57 member states, and is well known for monitoring elections worldwide in order to ensure a free and open ballot in accordance with local regulations.
According to a press release by Germany’s populist Alternative für Deutschland party, two of its members will be in the United States as part of this mission on Tuesday, with both members expressing an interest in spotting any evidence of “election manipulation” that may occur.
Their claim that they are on the lookout for manipulation echoes claims surrounding the last American presidential election, with alleged voter fraud and rigging. While such claims are heavily disputed, MPs Stefan Keuter and Malte Kaufmann have vowed to work to ensure any abnormalities this time around are spotted.
“Election observation in the USA is extremely important, also in order to investigate the repeated allegations of election manipulation,” Keuter, who will be stationed in Los Angeles, California, said.
Meanwhile, Kaufmann, who will be stationed in Nevada, emphasised that they would both have to “look very carefully” to ensure the election remains fair.
“Nevada, along with other key states, is likely to play an important role again in the midterms on November 8th,” a statement from the politician reads. “We have to look very carefully. Because democracy only works if free and secret elections and transparency in the counting are guaranteed.
“I am happy to be able to make a contribution to this,” he went on to say.
With around 110 parliamentarians from the organisation set to be monitoring the midterms on Tuesday. the OSCE has already expressed concern that some Americans no longer have much faith in their electoral system.
Citing research showing that around a quarter of those in the country has no faith in the 2020 presidential election result, the security group’s special coordinator, Margareta Cederfelt, said that the group was more determined than ever to take a neutral standpoint in ensuring American elections proceed smoothly.
“We note that a recent YouGov poll indicated that a quarter of Americans had no confidence that the 2020 presidential election was held fairly, and that heading into the midterms, nearly a third of Americans overall lack trust that the vote will be free and fair,” the special coordinator wrote in an Op-Ed, describing the numbers as “startling”.
However, while the organisation has criticised both Democrats and Republicans for their actions which the OSCE believes have damaged the perceived integrity of U.S. elections, it has singled out Republicans for running candidates that “challenged or refused to accept the legitimacy of the 2020 results.”
It has also criticised attempts by both Donald Trump and Joe Biden to suggest that their political opponents across the ideological divide are aiming to “subvert democracy” and are “a threat to the United States”.