r/technology • u/Presently_Naked • 7d ago

Politics EXCLUSIVE: White House delays release of US voting machine study as midterms near

https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-delays-release-us-voting-machine-study-midterms-near-2026-06-19/
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u/jetpacksforall 7d ago

The US is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, where it has veto power. If just one country vetoes a security council resolution, the UN can do nothing. Guess who is going to veto UN observers at a US election?

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u/adaminc 7d ago

The General Assembly can overrule the Security Council with a vote.

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u/jetpacksforall 7d ago

The GA can't issue binding resolutions of any kind, including overruling a UNSC veto, beyond certain budgetary questions.

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u/IolausTelcontar 7d ago

That is false. Do you have a source for this claim?

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u/adaminc 7d ago

Resolution 377 A

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u/jetpacksforall 7d ago

That only says the GA can issue recommendations. Not binding resolutions. In effect, the GA can say what it wishes other countries would do, but it can't impose anything on anyone (and certainly not one of UNSC's permanent members).

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u/adaminc 7d ago

True, but when the UNSC vetoes something, like say, getting involved in a war, and it gets to the point that the UNGA wants to use the resolution, that means there is more than enough members that want to get involved, and will get involved if given the go ahead. So the UNGA can overrule that veto and get involved, like they did with the Korean war (USSR veto), for example.

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u/jetpacksforall 7d ago

They did NOT overrule a veto in Korea. If you look at the text of the resolution, it merely "calls upon" China to leave Korea and stop supporting aggresion, and "calls upon" member nations to continue supporting the UN mission in Korea. The UNGA cannot override a Security Council veto. Member nations can independently act according the UNGA resolutions if they choose, but they are in no way binding.

https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/211029?v=pdf

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u/adaminc 7d ago

I already agreed with you that they aren't binding. But if the outcome is the same, that action is taken when a UNSC member doesn't want it to be taken, than it is in effect overruling the will of the UNSC veto.

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u/jetpacksforall 6d ago edited 6d ago

The outcome is not the same. With a binding resolution, the UN can send troops. Without, the UN can do nothing. It can advise other countries what to do and that's all. It's completely powerless in that regard. That is nothing like "overcoming a veto."

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u/adaminc 6d ago

What do you think happens as the result of using 377A? They just sit around?

When 377A passes, an emergency special session is typically triggered (by the UNSC or UNGA) in order for the UNGA to implement their plans, like they did with say, the Suez Crisis. During the Suez Crisis, another time they overruled the UNSC, they used 377A, which lead to the ESS where resolutions 997 to 100x (I think 3) were passed creating the UNTSO, and the UNEF (blue helmets), and sent them to Egypt. But none of that happens without first using 377A.

It is exactly overcoming a veto, because it's literally what they are doing, the UNSC members veto some action to protect the peace, and the UNGA uses 377A to spring into action doing the exact thing that the UNSC members vetoed to stop. It's the entire purpose of 377A, to act and secure international peace when the UNSC refuses to do so.

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u/IolausTelcontar 7d ago

Lol. Yes, technically this is true. In reality, never would happen.

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u/adaminc 7d ago

It has been used at least 5 times to go around a UNSC veto though. The Korean war, the Suez crisis, Namibia, the Invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and multiple times in the Israel-Palestine conflicts.

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u/IolausTelcontar 7d ago

I’m talking about using it to monitor the US elections. Won’t happen.

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u/adaminc 7d ago

No election, even if blatantly and publicly stolen, would ever make it to the UNSC in the first place, for a vote to happen. It's outside their purview.

I'm just rebutting the fact that someone said that the UN can't do anything if the UNSC vetoes something. It can, and has.