Work on postal voting act should be ceased: Supreme Court

Act on postal voting in the presidential election, due to the manner in which it was adopted by the lower chamber of Polish Parliament (Sejm and due to numerous substantive flaws should not be subject to further legislative work, the Supreme Court wrote in an opinion for the higher chamber (The Senate).

"The mentioned change interferes with the constitutional essence of the election of the President of the Republic of Poland. It transforms this election into a peculiar postal service. According to the reviewed opinion, the Polish Post is in fact becoming part of the electoral apparatus, the employees of this operator are electoral officers, while the sender mailbox performs the role of a mobile ballot box,”  the Supreme Court noted.

The act significantly limits the competence of the National Electoral Commission in organizing presidential elections and marginalizes the role of primary level electoral commissions in authenticating the voting process.

"The change in the identity of the presidential election, made by the opinion, also involves entrusting their organization and conduct to the ministers competent for matters of state assets and foreign affairs, i.e. representatives of the executive, who, like the President of the Republic of Poland, represent the political factor," added the Supreme Court.

In the opinion of the Supreme Court, the authorities responsible for organizing these elections "are thus inherently devoid of the object of impartiality, which calls into question the reliability of the entire electoral process".

(PAP)