Growing up in America in the 1990s and 2000s, I always heard news stories about compromised elections across the globe -- but never in North America. That was always a problem for the people "out there."

"Out there" we heard about rigged elections in Iraq, Venezuela, Myanmar, North Korea, and so many other war-torn countries and oppressive regimes.

"Out there" elections were always met with violence and intimidation, where government-backed cronies would stuff ballot boxes and silence dissidents.

"Out there" people faced riots in the streets when a dictator was reinstated against the people's will.

And now those "out there" problems are rearing their ugly heads here in the United States.

President Donald J. Trump made it clear that he will contest any election that doesn't go his way. He's inflamed fascist attitudes from his base, who have been known to riot in the streets -- even when he won the 2016 election.

At the same time, the opposition to Donald Trump is divided and many people feel the full weight of his policies. And yet, our most viable alternative to President Trump is a man who primarily bills himself as "Not Trump."

To top it all off, this election will be even more complicated as 1) due to the pandemic, our nation participates in its largest mail-in voting effort in history, 2) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has dismantled the infrastructure that lets our postal system function, making it harder for us to vote, 3) some politicians have talked about closing down polling locations to stop the spread of the pandemic, and 4) Trump himself has floated the idea of canceling our election.

Americans have too much riding on this to leave anything to chance. We need to be absolutely sure that our elections are free, fair, open, and valid. We need outside parties to observe and confirm, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the person who takes the Oath of Office on January 21st truly is the President of the United States as determined by our Constitution.

And so, as citizens of the United States and concerned participants in our democracy, we ask that the United Nations and Secretary-General António Guterres send international observers to ensure that our election on November 3rd, 2020 is free and fair.

Due to the nature of the pandemic and the state of mail-in voting, we also ask that the observers come to America for the weeks leading up to election day, and that they remain to observe the final Electoral College vote in December.

Thank you for your time, Secretary-General.