(Ottawa) When former Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy heard JD Vance dodge a question about the outcome of the 2020 vote in the vice-presidential debate, he saw it as further proof of the merits of a idea he launched last May: sending electoral observers to the United States to ensure the smooth running of the democratic process.
What you need to know
The refusal of Donald Trump and JD Vance to recognize the result of the 2020 election frightens former minister Lloyd Axworthy.
According to him, Canada should lead an electoral observation mission and send experts to supervise the American presidential election.
The United States has invited observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe since 2002 to witness the process and make recommendations.
Lloyd Axworthy detailed this proposal in an open letter published in The Globe and Mailco-signed by another former Canadian minister, Allan Rock.
“We heard it again during the debate on Tuesday evening: the Trump-Vance camp is not ready to say that it will accept the result of the election,” argues the former head of Canadian diplomacy in an interview .
PHOTO FRED CHARTRAND, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Lloyd Axworthy (left) receives the Pearson Peace Medal in 2017.
The Republican vice-presidential candidate’s response was equivocal. “I’m focused on the future,” replied JD Vance when his Democratic counterpart, Tim Walz, asked him if Donald Trump had lost the 2020 election. “It’s a damning non-answer” , reacted Kamala Harris’s running mate – the salient point of the debate, according to Hillary Clinton, in a publication on the social network
Lloyd Axworthy believes that it is “very clear” that the only result that will be acceptable to the Trump camp will be a victory.
“If he loses in a close race, obviously there will be legal challenges. The Republican National Committee has hired a battalion of lawyers to prepare. Everything is in place,” worries this former candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sure, but aren’t missions like this reserved for countries with shaky democracy or autocracies? Not necessarily, underlines Lloyd Axworthy, who himself participated in five of these missions, including one in Peru.
At the same time, he indicates that he fears an autocratic slippage in the United States if Donald Trump regains the keys to the White House. “All the signs are there. He is going to carry out purges, he is going to carry out expulsions, he wants to arrest political adversaries. Who knows how far he will go? »
Delicate points
The deployment of an international observer mission would not be unprecedented: since 2002, the United States has invited the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to supervise the smooth running of the presidential elections.
In a report published in February 2021, 38 recommendations were made, including those to review the Electoral College model, and “ask public officials, political parties, their candidates and their supporters to refrain from using rhetoric inflammatory or discriminatory.”
There is, however, a catch with the OSCE, points out former minister Lloyd Axworthy: Russia is part of it. “This time, the report will have no credibility,” he fears. Hence the need for democratic governments to set up a “consortium” which would be invited to the United States for the electoral period, he argues.
The United States prides itself on being an exceptional nation when it comes to democracy; however, democracy is based on the principle of fair and free elections. They could therefore accept an observation mission to ensure that this is the case.
Lloyd Axworthy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada
There’s another catch: time. For this election cycle, at least. This Friday, October 4, there are only 32 days left before the vote.
But for the former minister, Ottawa must still “remain vigilant” and take advantage of its network of consulates to keep an eye on the process.
Washington refrains from any comment
The United States Embassy in Canada would not say how an international observation mission led by Canada, as proposed by Lloyd Axworthy and Allan Rock, would be received by authorities south of the border. .
“This seems to be an issue that is more a matter for States, and it is not something that we, as a State Department or an embassy, could comment on,” a spokesperson for the Washington mission told us. Ottawa by email.
At the OSCE, we were told that no Russian observers are part of the current delegation to the United States. The ODIHR imposes on its investigators – who never work alone – a code of conduct requiring in particular “strict impartiality” and prohibiting “interfering in the electoral process”.
Global Affairs Canada did not respond to questions from The Press.
The presidential election in the United States will be held on November 5.
Read the open letter signed by Lloyd Axworthy and Allan Rock (in English; subscription required)
View the OSCE report on the 2020 election