The Growing Litigiousness of Czech Elections

The 2006 Czech elections produced a record number of lawsuits, more than all previous elections to the Chamber of Deputies combined. This article explains the rise as due primarily to the introduction of a new administrative court with special responsibility for electoral disputes. Although the law...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Europe-Asia studies Vol. 59; no. 6; pp. 937 - 959
Main Author:	Williams, Kieran
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Abingdon Routledge 01-09-2007 Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:	Actions and defenses Administrative courts Administrative responsibility Civil proceedings Complaints Constitutional courts Courts Czech Republic Disputes Election laws Elections Electoral systems Grievances Law Litigation Mass media Media coverage News Coverage Plaintiffs Political campaigns Political candidates Political elections Political Parties Studies Voter behavior Voter registration Votes Voting Voting Behavior Voting precincts Czech Republic
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Summary:	The 2006 Czech elections produced a record number of lawsuits, more than all previous elections to the Chamber of Deputies combined. This article explains the rise as due primarily to the introduction of a new administrative court with special responsibility for electoral disputes. Although the law makes a successful challenge to a result almost impossible, low-cost litigation is attractive to minor political parties as a form of campaigning. The article focuses on the two aspects of the 2006 election that generated the most complaints, media coverage and disproportionality between seats and votes.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0966-8136 1465-3427
DOI:	10.1080/09668130701489147