On platform X (formerly Twitter), president Andrzej Duda published an emotional and mobilizing entry in which he expressed concerns about the possible challenge of the result of the fresh presidential election:
‘Note! There is an impression that post-communists to a liberal-left company want to twist the last, already decided presidential elections in Poland and take distant our freedom of choice. Let's not give up, we voters! Let us not let ourselves be taken distant from those remnants of democracy and freedom that remained after 13 December 2023! Let us defender Poland!”
The entry refers to errors appearing in the media in the minutes from the elected electoral commissions that occurred during the vote counting in the second circular of elections. As reported, there have been irregularities in respective committees – it was mainly about the exchange of data between candidates. In 12 cases, the votes were wrongly attributed to Karol Nawrock and in 3 cases to Rafał Trzaskowski.
However, these were not intentional actions, but, as reported by reports, simple human errors erstwhile rewriting results into the system. Most importantly, their full did not affect the result of the election. The difference between candidates in authoritative results published by PKW amounted to over 370 1000 votes in favour of Karol Nawrocki. Meanwhile, the estimated impact of errors ranges from 4–5,000 votes. This means that even if all incorrect entries were corrected to the disadvantage of Nawrocki, its advantage would stay very clear anyway.
It is this context that makes the suggestions about "turning elections" seem disproportionate to the scale of the problem. PKW confirmed that there were errors but did not consider them systemic or affecting the final result.
Cancelled PKW gathering – information chaos and dementia
Yesterday there was news in the media about the alleged extraordinary gathering of the State Election Commission to be held today. This information was provided, among others, by erstwhile Minister of Justice Ryszard Kalisz, who announced a gathering in connection with irregularities detected. This sparked speculation about possible scenarios: verification of protocols, recalculation of votes, and even questioning the results of elections.
Meanwhile, the situation was explained by the spokesperson of the National Election Office Marcin Chmielnicki. In an authoritative communication, he dejected reports of any planned PKW gathering on the matter. He stressed that no peculiar gathering or plans had been convened to analyse the errors reported in an emergency mode. He considered the gathering to be ‘false and misleading to the public’.
At the same time, PKW maintained the previously announced time limits for election activities. The next authoritative event will be a resolution on the result of the presidential election, scheduled for 11 June at 5:30 p.m. at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. It shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure in force and without any change.
What's next? Protests go to the ultimate Court
Although the result of the elections has already been formally announced, the law provides for the anticipation of submitting electoral protests. By June 9, 28 specified protests were received by the ultimate Court. The deadline for submission is June 16. All applications will be examined by the home of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs.
This is important, due to the fact that although the position of this Chamber is being questioned under European law, it is inactive in the Polish legal order that it is liable for approving the validity of the elections. After considering the protests, the ultimate Court will issue a final ruling on the matter.
According to the information so far, protests are mainly formal, but they are not mass and do not indicate organized electoral manipulation. This means that the possible of the annulment of elections at national level seems highly unlikely.
