International vote monitors warn Texas: Don't mess with us
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Buy SPH photosAUSTIN (REUTERS) - International election monitors took a dim view on Wednesday of Texas' threat to prosecute them if they observe voting in the state a bit too closely on Nov. 6.
The exchange pitted the Vienna-based human rights watchdog Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe against Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who warned the OSCE not to interfere with polling in state elections.
"The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable," Janez Lenarcic, director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitoring arm, said in a statement.
"The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections." Mr Abbott told Reuters on Wednesday.
