Constitutional Court rules provisions of election law unconstitutional

Ukraine’s Constitutional Court ruled on October 19 that several provisions of the new law on presidential elections were unconstitutional. The law was signed into effect in September by Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Lyvtyn, after the Rada overturned a presidential veto. The Constitutional Court decision was publicly announced yesterday. Provisions ruled unconstitutional would have forced Ukrainian citizens voting abroad to register with diplomatic missions, and cancelled the use of absentee ballots, among other things. Brad Wells:  The ruling removes controversial clauses while retaining key portions of the bill – which will sit well with all political parties. The Constitutional Court’s ruling was, in fact, very narrow in scope and only cancelled out a few provisions disputed by President Viktor Yushchenko. Other provisions of the law that will remain in force shortened the campaign period from 120 days to 90 days and set deadlines for the Central Election Commission to conduct the election. Central Election Commission officials said yesterday that the ruling will not impact the course of the election campaign, which officially began on Monday. In our view, the ruling decreases the risk of legal challenges to the results of the presidential election.