Ukraine court overturns poll restrictions

A Ukrainian court ruled today that recent legislation restricting voting rights violate the country’s constitution – clouding the presidential rerun vote a day before ballots are due to be cast.

The head of the elections commission said the new election must be held as scheduled, despite the court’s ruling.

Yaroslav Davydovych, head of the Central Election Commission, said: “We will fulfill the decision of the Constitutional Court.

“We don’t have another alternative. The vote must be held.”

Supporters of opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko had pushed for the restrictions on housebound voters, saying they are necessary to prevent a repeat of the vote fraud that marred last month’s presidential election.

Ukraine’s Supreme Court invalidated the results of the election, cancelling the victory of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and ordering tomorrow’s new ballot.

The Constitutional Court said in its ruling today that the restrictions allowing only people with certain disabilities to vote at home were unconstitutional and must be lifted immediately.

The Constitutional Court ordered the Central Election Commission to act immediately to implement its decision.

The move could benefit Mr Yanukovych, who pushed for lifting the restrictions, saying they will deprive millions of their right to vote.

The number of votes that the court’s ruling could affect was not immediately clear.

The ruling does not affect other newly-adopted restrictions on absentee balloting, which the opposition and Western observers said became a vehicle for rampant fraud in the November election.

A court official said the ruling would add legitimacy to the result of tomorrow’s vote.

Court representative Mykola Selivon said: “No one will ever be able to say that the president was elected illegitimately and illegally. It would have been a lot worse if we took the decision after the election.”