When you hear that the Democrats want the UN to guarantee free elections.....

... think of their history in Kansas City.

• Thugs roamed the streets near polling places in the March 27, 1934, election for mayor and council, in which reformers were pushing hard to beat machine candidates. At one precinct, 1901 E. 24th Street, thugs barged in and killed a poll worker. Later, a sheriff's deputy, a hardware store owner and a machine enforcer were shot to death outside a polling place at 5824 Ward Parkway. Over the years, blame has been ascribed to one or another Democratic faction or to gangsters. In the end, most machine candidates won handily.