The Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives is calling for state legislation that would keep poll watchers sent by the United Nations out of his state on Election Day.
“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,” Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard said, according to the Yellow Hammer Politics blog.
“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,” he said.
Hubbard said that in order to prevent U.N. poll watchers from interfering with Alabama elections, he would support future state legislation requiring poll watchers to have U.S citizenship.
Hubbard’s comments came in response to news reports that a United Nations-affiliated group is planning to send election monitors to America to keep an eye on whether conservative groups try to suppress votes in November. (RELATED: United Nations organization set to monitor US polling places on Election Day)
“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, according to the blog.
The federal government, he added, already keeps a close eye on Alabama during elections.
“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,” he said.