Constitutional Court finds some provisions of the Law on the Presidential Elections unconstitutional

Ukraine’s Constitutional Court has found a number of provisions in the Law on the Presidential Elections passed by the Verkhovna Rada on 21 August 2009 to not be in keeping with the Constitution.  The following were deemed to be unconstitutional:

-        the requirement that Ukrainian nationals must be on the consulate register of the country where they wish to vote;

-        the provision requiring that members of electoral committees live in the area in question;

-        the provision preventing appeal in the courts against protocols drawn up by electoral precincts;

-        the provision that appeals against the decisions, actions or inaction of participants in the electoral process not considered by the court within two days from the end of voting at electoral precincts are left without consideration;

-        the ban on making complaints to the Central Election Committee on Election Day and subsequent days of the electoral process;

-        the ban on courts allowing claims in disputes concerning the elections, that is the courts passing rulings which suspend the force of this or that act regarding the elections;

The Constitutional Court found that the abolition of absentee ballot papers was constitutional, and decided that the issue of the very high bond which candidates must pay was not within its jurisdiction.