Ukraine court rules electoral changes unconstitutional

[J-10]

Ukraine court rules electoral changes unconstitutional
Sat Dec 25, 4:46 AM ET

KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine's constitutional court ruled that recently adopted electoral changes were unconstitutional, in a decision that could throw into doubt the legitimacy of a rerun presidential vote that is less than 24 hours away.

The court said that changes limiting so-called home voting to only the severely-disabled violated voters' rights and had to be annulled immediately.

"The changes are ruled unconstitutional and annulled from the day of the ruling," Mykola Selivon, head of the court, said in announcing the decision.

The court ordered the central election commission to inform regional commissions of its decision so they could carry out all appropriate changes.

The decision means that in order to qualify for mobile voting, voters who are not able to travel to their polling stations for health reasons must inform their regional election commissions by 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) Saturday.

Ballots from such voters are collected at their homes or hospitals by officials from regional commissions on election day.

The ruling came a day before a presidential election rematch between Western-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko and his pro-Russia rival Viktor Yanukovich.

Yushchenko's team and other observers have said that the election could be thrown into doubt if the court finds the changes unconstitutional.

The election law changes were passed as part of a compromise between Yushchenko and outgoing President Leonid Kuchma to resolve a tense standoff over a November runoff vote, which was announced as having been won by Yanukovich, but later thrown out because of massive fraud.

The opposition says the changes are needed in order to prevent the mass fraud that marred the November poll, but a group of 46 deputies appealed to the constitutional court, charging that that the legislation violated voters' rights.

The court began to examine their appeal on Thursday.
From (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&ncid=732&e=8&u=/afp/20041225/ts_afp/ukrainevoteruling)

[Hugh Jardon]

I have a feeling they will be at war come springtime.

[Zarathustra]

http://udaff.com/image/77/7741.jpg

[bison3255]

is it just me or do the courts and parliaments change their minds every day.... err i mean they are re-bribed every day... err i mean they change their minds :roll:


what a circus

[bloddyaxe]

is it just me or do the courts and parliaments change their minds every day.... err i mean they are re-bribed every day... err i mean they change their minds :roll:


what a circus

No, I think it is more like a parent telling its kid that it isn't okey to shoot the neighbours cat. Then the kid goes with a knife and cuts its head off instead.

[J-10]

US Prods Ukraine Courts to Uphold Yushchenko Win
Tue Dec 28, 5:16 PM ET World - *******

WASHINGTON (*******) - The United States prodded Ukraine's courts on Tuesday to uphold the re-run election victory of the pro-West opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko, if his opponent follows through on a threat to challenge the result.

The United States was criticized by Russia and losing candidate Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich for seeking to influence the outcome after the first, disputed runoff election, and it has so far avoided congratulating the winner of the re-run.

But on Tuesday, Washington made clear it believed Yushchenko, who wants to align the former Soviet state with the West, won fairly and that the courts should confirm that result if necessary.

"We would expect that they (the judicial authorities) would conduct a fair, transparent and legal review that results in an outcome that reflects the will of the Ukrainian people," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.

Yanukovich, whose own victory in November was annulled by the courts due to mass fraud concerns, has vowed to challenge the result of the re-run that preliminary results show he clearly lost.

"I would note that in the aftermath of the latest vote on Sunday, most observers, both Ukrainian and foreign ... concluded that any violations that did occur would not have affected the final outcome of the vote," Ereli said.

The comments added to pressure on Yanukovich to accept defeat after a top European human rights watchdog urged him on Tuesday to concede he lost.

Russia clashed with the United States and Europe after the November election -- Moscow welcoming Yanukovich's win and the West pressuring for the result to be overturned.

But since Ukraine's authorities ruled there would be a re-run, Russia has distanced itself from Yanukovich and the dispute between the major powers has waned despite Moscow's fears of losing long-standing influence over the country.
From (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=732&e=8&u=/nm/20041228/wl_nm/ukraine_usa_dc)