Democracy in action

On December 3rd, Ukraine's Supreme Court invalidated the official results of the disputed presidential run off election on November 21, 2004 and ruled that a repeat vote must be held. The Supreme Court reviewed and accepted incontrovertible and massive evidence of election fraud, falsification and unfair election practices in its historic and courageous ruling to overturn the elections. Much of this evidence was provided by International Election Observers, who played a vital role in documenting, gathering and disseminating evidence of violations to the world community. Through their respective organizations and through the press, the world learned of the blatant election law violations and voter intimidation carried out throughout numerous polling stations throughout the country. Statements, such as Senator Lugar's (R-Ind), that "a concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the leadership or cooperation of government authorities", were backed by the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and several non-governmental organizations that sent observers to Ukraine.

As Ukraine moves toward a historic opportunity to create a truly democratic state and elect a leadership based upon the will of the people, the need to support democratic principles and free and fair elections exists more than ever. The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), a non-profit organization that has represented the interests of Ukrainian Americans for over 60 years, requests your assistance in its initiative to support a fair election process and to send international election observers to Ukraine for the third and final round.

The UCCA, one of the few non-governmental organizations registered with the Central Election Commission, deployed over 270 international election observers to Ukraine for the first two rounds of the 2004 elections. The UCCA has worked with the Central Election Commission since 1994 to field delegations of international election observers in all the previous elections and works with other organizations to coordinate the deployment of election observers to various regions within Ukraine.

On behalf of the UCCA, we are requesting your assistance to serve either as an international election observer, sponsor an international election observer, or donate funds. Funds that are raised will be used to mobilize and coordinate election observers throughout Ukraine, as well as to help defray expenses associated with the program. If you have any questions regarding registration or collecting funds, please contact Tamara Gallo Olexy at the UCCA's National Office at (212) 228-6840 or via email at ucca@ucca.org. The registration form for International Election Observers can be found on UCCA's website www.ucca.org. If you would like to make a donation, please send a check/money order made out to "UCCA-Democracy in Action" and send it to the UCCA's National Office at: 203 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003. Donations can also be directly deposited at or wired to Self Reliance (NY) Federal Credit Union, Democracy in Action Account Number 4225-01.

Help support and uphold democracy and the right to free and fair elections in Ukraine. All donations to the UCCA are tax-deductible The UCCA thanks you for your support!

On behalf of the UCCA Executive Board,

Michael Sawkiw, Jr.
President

Marie Duplak
Executive Secretary