Dunklin County clerk to be election monitor

Daily Dunklin Democrat

KENNETT, Mo. -- Charles Isbell will go to Europe Saturday. It's not a vacation, though. He will be working.

Isbell, Dunklin County's chief election official, will go to Kosovo for the parliamentary elections Nov. 17 where he'll work as an international election observer.

Isbell said a friend, who has gone on election-monitoring trips, told him election monitors were being sought for the elections in Kosovo.

Isbell said his friend explained the application process, and he filled out and submitted all the paperwork. Then he didn't hear anything for a long time.

"In fact, I didn't hear anything until after Sept. 11, so I kind of figured it was a dead issue," Isbell said. "But they sent e-mails and so forth requesting more information. Then they notified me that I had been selected as one of the monitors."

Isbell will work for the Council of Europe, a volunteer group, and will be paid on a per-day basis. He will be given his meals, lodging and travel to Kosovo and back.

There are 1,950 monitors and supervisors headed to Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia to monitor the election. Of that number, 200 come from the United States and four are county clerks from Missouri.

Isbell will be trained once he gets to Europe, and he understands his duties will be primarily to observe and report the findings.