Russian Duma on US election

[Andrew Jameson]

Johnson's Russia List
#4638
16 November 2000
davidjohnson at erols.com

#14
Russian Duma says US vote proves America no example
November 15, 2000

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian parliamentarians, relishing a chance to turn the
tables on an old adversary, adopted a unanimous resolution Wednesday
criticizing the U.S. election process as flawed and archaic.

The statement, which passed with 246 votes to zero in the State Duma,
Russia's lower house, said muddle in the wake of last week's presidential
election proved that the United States had no business teaching other
countries about democracy.

"It is noteworthy that the political and constitutional crisis connected with
the election has emerged in a country that persistently attempts to play the
role of a 'model of the rule of the people' and arbitrator of the quality of
election laws and the purity of elections in other states," it said.

"This once again demonstrates that attempts by certain countries to play the
role of 'teachers of democracy' toward other states are without foundation
and can end in confusion."

Russia, ruled by dictators for all but a decade of its 1,000-year history,
has often been criticized abroad for staging less-than-perfect elections.
Last month election officials struck an incumbent regional governor and a
leading contender off the ballot just hours before the vote.

But the Duma resolution described the American vote in terms that might
embarrass many a shakier democracy.

It listed "unequal conditions" for third party candidates, the "hypertrophic
role of money in the election campaign" and "ignoring the total number of
votes" as examples of "significant flaws in election law and archaic
procedures."

It also complained about "machinations with hundreds of disappearing ballots"
and "attempts by officials in several states to...influence the terms and
results of the counting of votes."

An initial version of the bill said the State Duma wished "success to both
candidates" in the U.S. election, but the wording was later removed when some
deputies said it made no sense, since one of the two was bound to lose.

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