Kamala Harris, Dem Rising Star, Goes for the Jugular on Conservative Nonprofits

The Supreme Court is being asked to determine whether California’s ambitious Attorney General and candidate for U.S. Senate, Kamala Harris, has violated the First Amendment and federal law protecting confidential tax return information.

Harris is California’s top charity regulator, and has been delegated broad, unbridled discretion to tell charities and nonprofit advocacy groups what they must file to obtain a license to speak with potential and existing donors.

Nonprofit organizations are some of the most effective critics of government, other powerful institutions -- and ambitious politicians -- making them especially vulnerable to the desire to bully and censor them. The Lois Lerner/IRS scandal is a good example.

Harris decided to push the limits by telling charities that they may not solicit contributions unless they first file a list of their top donors, which is an extortionate prior restraint on speech. Those donors are found on a confidential “Schedule B” to the tax returns filed by nonprofits with the IRS. 

Federal law protects confidential tax return information, and even provides civil and criminal penalties against federal and state officials who violate the confidentiality law.  The IRS was ordered to pay the National Organization for Marriage for disclosing that organization’s Schedule B donor information to hostile blogs.

As or even more importantly, what Harris is doing flies in the face of the 1958 landmark Supreme Court decision in NAACP v. Alabama. That case held that membership lists are protected by the First Amendment from demands of states and their attorneys general.

The petition for the court to hear this case filed by the Center for Competitive Politics will be supported by an amicus brief filed by the Free Speech Coalition of Virginia, along with dozens of policy advocacy groups, and even charities such as animal sanctuaries. 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations may still add their name to the amicus brief in what may be a landmark case protecting privacy and rights of private association.

Here is a clip from the amicus brief to be filed explaining the collaboration between Lois Lerner and state charity officials:

A bipartisan report of the Senate Finance Committee about the Internal Revenue Service’s treatment of nonprofit organizations, issued August 5, 2015, references various unlawful disclosures of confidential tax information by the IRS, including the Form 990 Schedule B information of the National Organization of Marriage.[1]

Recent publicized violations of disclosure of confidential tax return information by the IRS -- and of course what is publicized is based only on the times that the IRS was caught -- demonstrate that even the federal service with its supposedly sophisticated guards of confidentiality is untrustworthy.  It defies logic to believe that state attorneys general, a partisan elected position subject to the temptations and whims of partisan politics no matter how dedicated and professional, would have better safeguards of such confidential tax return information.

Via: American Thinker

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Democrats drop Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson names from annual fundraising dinner

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Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are history in Connecticut.

Under pressure from the NAACP, the state Democratic Party will scrub the names of the two presidents from its annual fundraising dinner because of their ties to slavery.

Party leaders voted unanimously Wednesday night in Hartford to rename the Jefferson Jackson Bailey dinner in the aftermath of last month’s fatal shooting of nine worshipers at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C.

The decision is believed to be unprecedented and could prompt Democrats in other states with similarly named events to follow suit.

“I see it as the right thing to do,” Nick Balletto, the party’s first-year chairman, told Hearst Connecticut Media on Wednesday night.

“I wasn’t looking to be a trailblazer or set off a trend that’s going to affect the rest of the country. Hopefully, they’ll follow suit when they see it’s the right thing to do.”

Take our poll: What should the new name be?

Democrats cited Jefferson and Jackson’s ownership of slaves as a key factor in the decision, as well as Jackson’s role in the removal of Native Americans from the southeastern U.S. in what was known as the Trail of Tears.

In 2005, the school board in the city of Berkeley, Calif., considered a measure to change the name of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School for similar reasons, but the moniker remains.

Scot X. Esdaile, the head of Connecticut’s NAACP, said it was high time for Democrats to rebrand the event.

“I would applaud the current leaders in Connecticut in making the symbolic first step and striving to right the wrongs of the past,” Esdaile said.

“You can’t right all the wrongs, but I think it’s a symbolic gesture of our support for their party.”

The decision immediately drew criticism from some historians as a politically correct overstep, including Robert Turner, a law professor at the University of Virginia, which was founded by Jefferson.

“It is a sad and short-sighted decision based upon tragic ignorance,” said Turner, who has written extensively about Jefferson’s legacy.

This December will mark the 150th anniversary of the enactment of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, which abolished slavery.

“The authors of that amendment purposely chose language drafted by Jefferson in an unsuccessful effort to outlaw slavery in the Northwest Territories as a means of honoring Jefferson’s struggle against slavery,” Turner said.

“If (Democrats) understood Jefferson’s lifelong opposition to slavery, they would have reached a different conclusion.”

A new name for the event, which marked its 67th year in June with Massachusetts Sen.Elizabeth Warren as its headliner, will be chosen in the fall.

The event’s third namesake, John Bailey, who led the state party and then the Democratic National Committee under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, will likely be preserved.

Balletto said blacks and Native Americans are a major constituency of the Democratic Party.

“When something offends someone, it’s beyond being politically correct,” Balletto said.

“It just causes a need for change.”

Balletto said Jefferson was a great founding father, but “had some issues.”

“You can’t change history, but you don’t have to honor it,” Balletto said.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy

Via: CTPost

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Obama's Definition of 'Justice' Describes His Liberal Agenda

President Barack Obama speaks at the NAACP's 106th national convention at the Philadelphia Convention Center, on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)(

CNSNews.com) - "Justice is not only the absence of oppression, it is the presence of opportunity," President Obama told an NAACP gathering in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

In a speech focusing on crime and punishment, the president spent a few paragraphs defining justice as the embodiment of his liberal agenda:

"What the marchers on Washington knew, what the marchers in Selma knew, what folks like Julian Bond knew, what the marchers in this room still know, is that justice is not only the absence of oppression, it is the presence of opportunity. Justice is giving every child a shot at a great education no matter what zip code they're born into. Justice is giving everyone willing to work hard the chance at a good job with good wages, no matter what their name is, what their skin color is, where they live.

"Fifty years after the Voting Rights Act, justice is protecting that right for every American. Justice is living up to the common creed that says, I am my brother's keeper and my sister's keeper. Justice is making sure every young person knows they are special and they are important and that their lives matter -- not because they heard it in a hashtag, but because of the love they feel every single day -- not just love from their parents, not just love from their neighborhood, but love from police, love from politicians. Love from somebody who lives on the other side of the country, but says, that young person is still important to me. That's what justice is.

"And in the American tradition and in the immigrant tradition of remaking ourselves, in the Christian tradition that says none of us is without sin and all of us need redemption, justice and redemption go hand in hand."

Taking his points one by one, Obama advocates universal preschool for every 3- and 4-year old in America, and he repeated that in his speech on Tuesday.

As for goods jobs with good wages," the president is leading the push for a higher minimum wage; and he said on Tuesday that "continuing...subtle, bigotry" may explain why the unemployment rate for blacks is much higher than that for whites.

Fifty years after passage of the Voting Rights Act, Obama and other Democrats insist that requiring people to show identification at polling places violates their "voting rights."

To help more young people feel the love, Obama in 2014 launched an initiative called "My Brother's Keeper," aimed at "helping more of our young people stay on track."

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/27/remarks-president-my-brothers-keeper-initiative

And in the wake of the race riots in Ferguson, President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing recommended changes in the way police interact with the communities they patrol. Obama has endorsed the recommendation that police officers work with children, taking time to read to them in schools, for example.

In his speech on Tuesday, President Obama said the nation's criminal justice system "isn't as smart as it should be. It's not keeping us as safe as it should be. It is not as fair as it should be. Mass incarceration makes our country worse off, and we need to do something about it."

He wants to end mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, putting more of them back in the community: "We should pass a sentencing reform bill through Congress this year," he said.)

He wants to improve prison conditions for inmates, ending overcrowding, gang activity, rape, and the "overuse" of solitary confinement. He also wants to boost job-training programs for inmates: "Let's reward prisoners with reduced sentences if they complete programs that make them less likely to commit a repeat offense," Obama said.

He also wants voting rights restored to felons who have served their sentences, and he said employers should "ban the box" asking job candidates about their past convictions.

Obama will highlight his prison-reform agenda when he becomes the first sitting president to visit a federal prison on Thursday.

Via: CNS News

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NC Lawmakers Agree to Allow Exceptions to State’s Controversial Voter-ID Requirement

This comes ahead of a federal trial to determine the constitutionality of North Carolina’s election law. Meanwhile, the state’s NAACP is keeping up the pressure.

Voters enter Cotswold School in Charlotte, N.C., Nov. 4, 2014. 

DAVIS TURNER/GETTY IMAGES

North Carolina lawmakers passed legislation June 18 that would allow voters without photo identification to cast provisional ballots, the News & Observer reports. The General Assembly sent the measure to Gov. Pat McCrory for his signature.

The proposed change would allow voters to declare a “reasonable impediment” to explain not having a photo ID. It establishes eight possible reasons, such as not having a birth certificate or lacking transportation to get an ID.

This change comes nearly two weeks before a federal trial on the constitutionality of the state’s voter-ID rule and other provisions in a controversial 2013 election law. A federal court in Winston-Salem, N.C., is scheduled to hear arguments on the law on July 5. The sweeping overhaul is set to take effect in 2016. The News & Observer reports that it’s unclear how the new measure would affect that case.

Advocates of strict voter-ID requirements, which have swept through the South, say they’re necessary to prevent voter fraud. But opponents argue that it’s a ruse to suppress voter participation among minorities, the poor and the young—traditional Democratic voters.

The News & Observer says that yesterday’s rule change drew “quick criticism” from conservatives, while opponents were “lukewarm.”

Via: The Root

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Conservative Laments to Fox: I’m Actually Black, Why Won’t NAACP Support Me?

When Fox & Friends hosts a quick debate about Rachel Dolezal, race, and the NAACP, you know you’re in for a treat.

On one end, Democratic strategist Brian Benjamin utterly confounded host Steve Doocy with the academic theory that race, unlike ethnicity, is a social construct and that he won’t outright tell the former Spokane NAACP leader she cannot identify as a particular race.

And on the other, conservative activist Deneen Borelli mostly railed against the NAACP for initially supporting Dolezal in the wake of her public dressing-down (she eventually resigned). Why? Because Borelli herself is black, but does not receive any such support from the civil rights organization.

“You look at me, someone who’s a black conservative,” she said. “I’m criticized, called all types of names. I’m told I act and talk white, should die my hair blonde. I don’t get support from NAACP, Al Sharpton, or Jesse Jackson. She’s been given a pass.”

Via: Mediaite

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[VIDEO] Melissa Harris-Perry Presses Dolezal: ‘Are You a Con Artist?’

MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry, who previously wondered whether it was possible that Rachel Dolezal actually was black, straightforwardly asked the former Spokane NAACP head in a recent interview whether or not she was a con artist.

“Are a con artist?” Harris-Perry asks, in a preview of the interview posted on MSNBC.com.

“I don’t think so, you know?” Dolezal responded. “I don’t think that anything that I have done with regards to the movement, my work, my life, my identity– I mean it’s all been very thoughtful and careful.”

Dolezal enigmatically added that some of her decisions were made for “survival reasons,” and that when it came to protecting her kids, “I will never stand down on that.”

Via: Mediaite

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The Left Can’t Handle An Inconvenient Truth

Identity politics is a prized possession in the Left’s arsenal until someone uses certain identities in a way in which the Left disapproves. They initially shout: “Be who you believe you are, and present yourself in the way you want!” Only, they’re lying. They don’t mean be free to be your (chosen) self. They really mean be free to be your (chosen) self only if it’s what they allow at that moment and in line with the narrative they wish to promote. This is why the situation involving Spokane, Washington NAACP President Rachel Dolezal is making the Left so defensive. It shows the hypocrisy of their convenient tolerance.

Many of us immediately noticed the outrage at Rachel’s “blackness” from those who praised Bruce Caitlyn Jenner’s surgical and supplemental transformation. We clearly see if someone is praised (and soon to be ESPY awarded) for being transgender, then why can’t the same be done for someone who is transracial? If identity is determined by an individual, then questioning that individual’s choice should never enter into the picture, right? I mean, those are their rules. Of course, I believe the trans community seeks to address mental and emotional issues incorrectly. Instead of addressing internal issues internally, they conclude that addressing said issues superficially leads to true freedom. The exact opposite is true. Surgical/cosmetic addition and subtraction is a mask, never a solution.

But don’t worry, the Left is disgusted by the idea that we compare Jenner and Dolezal. Didn’t you know it is completely different? Or something? As some have concluded:

Rachel Dolezal didn’t “choose her race,” she committed fraud by lying about her background. She can choose to adopt whatever culture she wishes, but that’s not what happened here. She lied about her background, not just to the public but apparently also on job applications. That’s fraud. The people who are trying to use this case to draw analogies to, or mostly just to make stupid, snarly comments about, the issues raised last week by the Caitlyn Jenner story, are just being obnoxious jerks.

Well, consider me an obnoxious jerk. It doesn’t matter if she hid (rather poorly) her natural identity for years. Bruce Caitlyn Jenner hid his desire for female identity for years. Both cases are fraudulent. But put aside my offensive opinion, what does Rachel Dolezal say about herself? Just this rather inconvenient admission:

“Yes, I do consider myself to be black and that’s because … you know, that’s how I identify,” she told the station.

Via: Red State

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The Great Pretenders

Before the nation had a chance to digest the spectacle of former Olympic star Bruce Jenner transitioning into a female by the name of “Caitlyn,” another pretender has emerged. It seems that the NAACP President of Spokane, Washington is actually, heaven forbid, white. For years, Rachel Dolezal claimed to be an African American, but now her cover has been blown by her own mother, Ruthanne Dolezal, who informed the media that her daughter is indeed white.

In an interview with the Spokesman-Review, Ruthanne Dolezal lamented “It’s very sad that Rachel has not just been herself. Her effectiveness in the causes of the African-American community would have been so much more viable, and she would have been more effective if she had just been honest with everybody.”

Rachel Dolezal has been estranged from her real white parents for years. She claims to have been abused by her parents, although they deny the accusations. Their real crime is their skin color and any self-respecting African American NAACP leader cannot be seen with white parents!

This fraudulent civil rights leader was just following the example set by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate, Professor Elizabeth Warren claimed that she was a Native American. This “minority” status allowed her to garner positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. When confronted by his use of the minority label, Warren claimed that she used it to meet other Native Americans. Of course, it was really used to advance her career. She parlayed her academic positions into a powerful political office. Of course, it was all built on a deception, but since Warren is a liberal, everything has been forgiven.

Via: Canada Free Press

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Al Sharpton Blames Parents for Calling Out Race-Changing NAACP Official

Al Sharpton on Saturday slammed the parents of Spokane NAACP President Rachel Dolezal, saying he has to wonder what their motives were for revealing her to be a white woman, not an African-American, as she claims.

"On one level, you've got to say to her, you're misleading us, but on another level, mom and dad, come on," he told TMZ. "Are we gonna have this dysfunctional family stuff play out and distract us from real key civil rights causes. Be the adults here. You just now noticed she was in the NAACP?"


But still, Sharpton pointed out that the real issue is not race, as there are whites "in all of our organizations," and who died fighting for civil rights.

"It's not about whether she is white or black, but are you going to be honest?" he said. "Don't be misleading... if you're fighting for the rights of people, don't deny who you are."

However, Sharpton wondered why Dolezal's parents, Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal, waited until Friday to appear on television to discuss her. 

Instead, he said, they waited until she became more prominent before making their statements, Sharpton said. 

“You’ve got to ask the question, ‘what are Mom and Dad’s motives here… where’ve you been?” he replied.

Her parents, Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal told CNN Friday that their daughter has been claiming to be black for years, but they were never asked about her until recently. The couple has four adopted children, three of whom are African-American and one from Haiti, in addition to Dolezal, who is their biological daughter.

They also shared a photo of her, taken while she was younger and showing her with blonde hair, and a birth certificate that lists themselves as Dolezal's parents. 

Her mother told CNN that Dolezal cut ties with them several years ago, as "she doesn't want to be seen with us because that ruins her image."

Via: NewsMax

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The White-est of All Guilt

SPOKANE, Wash. — Controversy is swirling around one of the Spokane region’s most prominent civil rights activists, with family members saying the local leader of the NAACP has falsely portrayed herself as black for years.

Rachel Dolezal is president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, chair of the city’s Office of Police Ombudsman Commission, and an adjunct professor at Eastern Washington University.

The Spokesman-Review reported Thursday that questions have arisen about her background and her numerous complaints to police of harassment. The story was first reported by the Coeur d’Alene Press.

Dolezal’s mother, Ruthanne, says the family’s ancestry is Czech, Swedish and German, with a touch of Native American heritage.

Dolezal has identified herself in application materials as white, black and Native American.

Police say they have found little evidence of racial harassment.

On Twitter and sometimes here, I like to talk about how ridiculous “Tumblr Culture” is. It’s Tumblr and places like it that have allowed kids with no clue of how the world works to claim they are transabled, have “headmates” (if you are unclear as to what this term means, forget you’ve ever seen it because only sadness comes from looking it up), and other signs of either too much imagination or mental distress.

Well, at some point, along came an Internet troll with a great idea: Let’s create “transethnicity” to up our trans game. And, so, it happened as a joke. With Dolezal, it no longer appears to be a joke.

Via: Red State

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Spokane NAACP Leader Falsely Portrays Herself as Black, Her Own Family Says

SPOKANE, Wash. — Controversy is swirling around one of the Spokane region’s most prominent civil rights activists, with family members saying the local leader of the NAACP has falsely portrayed herself as black for years.

Rachel Dolezal is president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, chair of the city’s Office of Police Ombudsman Commission, and an adjunct professor at Eastern Washington University.

The Spokesman-Review reported Thursday that questions have arisen about her background and her numerous complaints to police of harassment. The story was first reported by the Coeur d’Alene Press.

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Dolezal’s mother, Ruthanne, says the family’s ancestry is Czech, Swedish and German, with a touch of Native American heritage.

Dolezal has identified herself in application materials as white, black and Native American.

Police say they have found little evidence of racial harassment.

Via: Washington Times

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NAACP Refuses to Help Young Black Man, Aspiring Cop Over Bogus Gun Charge

Steffon Josie-Davis is a responsible gun owner who wanted to be a police officer. He used to work as an armored guard for armed service company Loomis. When his little sister was playing in the garage where his gun was accessible, Josey-Davis put it inside the glove box of a locked vehicle. Josey-Davis then drove that car before accidentally failing to take the firearm out of the vehicle. His handgun is legally registered in the state of New Jersey.

Hello, My name is Steffon Josey-Davis I'm a 24 year old from New Jersey who became a convicted felon for a legally owned firearm. As an armored Guard for Loomis, As a Armed service company who transported U.S & foreign currency to banks and service ATM's. I was also on the road to a successful career with my township police department.

One Morning on September 20th 2013. I was preparing myself for work, grabbing my firearm out of my safe, bulletproof vest, Making my way to the garage. While in the process of disarming my firearm. My little sister came into the garage. To avoid any accidents, I put the firearm in the glove compartment moments after putting my bulletproof vest on the passenger seat. After securing my firearm, I took my sister upstairs to put her back in bed. Losing track of time, I noticed I was running late, grabbed my keys and continued to leave my house that morning for work. Not realizing my firearm was still in the glove compartment.

When I left out of the house that morning I was later pulled over in my vehicle. During my traffic stop, I notified the officers who I was, Who I worked for and I had my Legally owned firearm in my glove compartment.

The officers took my fire arm and let me go, When I went to claim my fire arm from the police department they arrested me and charged me with unlawful possession of a firearm I legally owned.

I was facing 10 years in prison for a simple technicality. I am now a convicted felon.  

Via: Townhall

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NAACP president attacks voter-suppression laws

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The president of the NAACP says laws that aim to undermine the coalition that helped elect President Barack Obama are the No. 1 issue facing Americans.

Benjamin Jealous told a Salt Lake City audience on Friday that the nation’s power structure has seen the way blacks, Hispanics and students of all races are voting and it realizes time is running out on its “strategy for power.”

He says attempts to place restrictions on voter registration in Florida are aimed at those outside the power structure, but populists can defeat “organized money” every time if people are organized.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/H8mjOB ) that Jealous’ remarks were made at the NAACP Salt Lake branch’s 94th annual Life Membership and Freedom Banquet.

Jealous has made voter rights a hallmark of his five-year administration, which ends next week. He announced earlier this fall that he would leave the position but pledged to remain an active civil rights leader

Via: Daily Caller

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COMPLETE LIST OF WHERE U.N. POLL WATCHERS WILL BE STATIONED

COMPLETE LIST OF WHERE U.N. POLL WATCHERS WILL BE STATIONED

Oct 25, 2012 169 Comments Pat Dollard

Excerpted from THE HILL: United Nations election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week. The intervention has drawn criticism from a prominent conservative-leaning group combating election fraud. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a United Nations partner on democratization and human rights projects, will deploy 44 observers around the county on Election Day to monitor an array of activities, including potential disputes at polling places.

United Nations Election Observer Deployment 2012

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.”

The request for foreign monitoring of election sites drew a strong rebuke from Catherine Engelbrecht, founder and president of True the Vote, a conservative-leaning group seeking to crack down on election fraud.

Via: Pat Dollard

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Awesome: Alabama House Leader Moves To Block UN Poll Watchers From Operating In His State…

Montgomery – In response to news that poll watchers affiliated with the United Nations will be sent across the country to monitor balloting in various states and search for evidence of “voter suppression” during the upcoming November 6 presidential election, Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard said he will support legislation in the next session requiring all poll watchers in Alabama to hold U.S. citizenship.

“The United States is the worldwide beacon of free elections and the Republican form of government, so having an international squad from the United Nations playing referee in our elections is insulting and absurd,” Hubbard said. “We’ve been holding elections in the U.S. for the past 223 years without the United Nations playing a role or enforcing the rules, and we certainly don’t want or need them now.”

At the request of several liberal-leaning groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a United Nations affiliate, announced it will deploy a team of poll watchers to polling sites across the country in order to monitor and document potential disputes.

The poll watchers will come from Serbia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Germany and France, and other countries.

Hubbard said he will push the law in order to ensure U.N. observers are blocked from future elections in Alabama by allowing only those who are U.S. citizens to be certified as poll watchers in the state.

“If you can’t participate in an election in the United States, and if you can’t cast a vote in the United States, you really have no business serving as a poll watcher in an election being held in the United States,” Hubbard said. “It’s bad enough that Alabama remains trapped under the provisions of the Voting Rights Act, so we certainly don’t need anyone from the United Nations coming into our state and meddling in our elections, as well.”

Via: Yellow Hammer

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