Postal vote for presidential election approved

Poland’s lower house (Sejm) of parliament gave the green light on May 7 for a presidential election to be held by postal vote following a dispute over whether voting could take place during the coronavirus pandemic.

The election was scheduled to take place on May 10 but the opposition said the ruling right-wing nationalist and populist party, Law and Justice (PiS), would be putting political gain ahead of public health if it went ahead on that date.

PiS and its junior coalition partner, Agreement, reached an understanding on May 6 on postponing the ballot in anticipation that the Supreme Court will declare the election invalid because of the inability to vote physically. Critics have argued that four days before the presidential election, two party leaders with no posts in the government struck a backroom deal to resolve a political dispute over a postal vote by not holding the election at all and getting it declared void by the Supreme Court, adding that the country’s top court is being used as a “tool” by PiS.

Though the Sejm approved legislation allowing this election to be decided only by postal ballot, the timing of the vote remains unclear, though Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin told private radio RMF FM the earliest possible date would be June.

While there was a sense of relief among many Poles that the European Union and NATO member state of 38 million would not be forced into an election during the coronavirus pandemic, government critics said it was unclear what legal basis PiS had to cancel May 10’s vote. “Formally, the election has not been postponed,” said Borys Budka, head of centrist Civic Platform opposition party, adding that the date put forward months ago was, in theory, still valid. But it was clear an election could not now be held on Sunday, he said. Budka added that the legislation approved by the Sejm on a postal vote still did not guarantee a free and fair election. “Elections need to be safe, fair, secret and with equal access assured for all voters,” he said.

Opposition critics and international monitors have complained that only one candidate, President Andrzej Duda, has been able to campaign because rivals have been constrained by restrictions intended to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Opinion polls have suggested Duda would win reelection by a landslide if the vote were held in May. A PiS ally, he has backed judiciary reforms which the EU’s executive, the European Commission, has said violated democratic norms.

PiS had wanted the election to go ahead now because of concerns that the recession that is likely to follow the coronavirus pandemic will dent its support and damage Duda’s chances of victory. Its climbdown was seen by some political analysts as significant and unusual.

(Reuters)