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3 Law & Admin. Post-Soviet Eur. 4 (2016)

handle is hein.journals/lape3 and id is 1 raw text is: EDE GRUYTER OPEN LAW AND ADMINISTRATION IN POST-SOVIET EUROPE THE JOURNAL OF KOLEGIUM JAGIELLONSKIE TORUNSKA SZKOLA WYZSZA VOL. 1/2016: 4-9 DOI: 10.1515/lape-2016-0001 Grzegorz G6rski Jagiellonian College, Torun, Poland The Election Crises in the United States and in Poland - the Role of the Supreme Courts Key words: elections, election crises, validation, supreme court. In a democratic state where two powers supported by a relatively equal parts of the society struggle on politi- cal grounds, it is a frequent case that a conflict appears concerning the determination of the election result. Such a situation is not rare, thus there is the necessity of creating mechanisms solving arguments, since there must be a methodology of the definite determination of the elections outcome. Otherwise, the lack of this methodology might lead to deep, long-lasting political crises. In the recent years we could observe complica- tions associated with this issue in numerous countries worldwide, and the example of the events Ukrainian so called Orange Revolution that happened at the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005, is one of the symp- toms of potential conflicts. In Poland the model of the validation of parliamen- tary and presidential elections results by the Supreme Court has been applied1. Regardless numerous opin- ions questioning this rule, it was acknowledged as the most optimal one. A similar model exists in the United States, although it does not, like in Poland, result from ' Art. 101 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2n, 1997, http://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/angiel- ski/konl.htm. the solutions accepted in the electoral law2, but from the applied practice. In my text I would like to analyze three crises that appeared around the presidential elections, two in the USA and one in Poland. At their background I would like to assess the decisions made by the highest judicial organs in both countries, especially their consequences for shaping a particular model of constitutional system, as well as the role of supreme courts in it. I will begin the analysis with the presentation of the election crises in the USA in 1876 and 2000. The Election Crisis of 1876 in the US The crisis resulted from a very even contest between the Republican Party candidate, Rutheford B. Hayes, and the one of the Democratic Party, Samuel J. Tilden. The weakness of the Republican candidate had created, for the first time in a quarter of the century, a real oppor- 2 In the United States there is no state electoral law either for the elections to the Congress or the presidential elections. The elections are conducted according to election regulations set by each state autonomously.