12 CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS ASK U.N.'S HELP IN MONITORING U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

This has got Dallas talk radio hopping mad:

U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas was among a dozen Democrats in Congress who on Friday asked the United Nations to watch for "questionable practices" in this year's presidential election.

They wrote that they do not want a repeat of the controversy and resulting legal wars of the 2000 race between George W. Bush and Al Gore that was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A spokesman for the United Nations, Ari Gaitanis, said the request would be rejected because it came from elected officials, rather than directly from the government, as required by U.N. policy.

"We don't intervene in such affairs unless there is a proper request," Gaitanis said.

Despite the quick rejection, the request sparked the ire of some conservatives, including radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Johnson was the first of 12 Democratic members of Congress to sign the letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. They said they feared a repeat of the 2000 election, which was won by Bush, a Republican, through the Electoral College count even though he lost in the popular vote.

The Democrats had asked in the letter for "international election monitors" to watch for "questionable practices and voter disenfranchisement on Election Day."

The close outcome between Bush and Gore in 2000 was clouded by accusations that ballots -- many of them cast by minorities who traditionally favor Democrats -- were not counted because of faulty voting machines and improper election instructions.

"We are deeply concerned that the right of U.S. citizens to vote in free and fair elections is again in jeopardy," the letter to the United Nations said.

The Democratic Congress members wrote that they did not believe that sufficient reforms had been implemented to prevent another voting debacle. "As the next Election Day approaches, there is more cause for alarm rather than less," the letter said.

A campaign spokesman for Bush declined to comment on the request, while a spokesman for presumptive Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry did not return a phone call.