Majority of Poles wants PM to stand trial over “unlawfully” organised elections, finds poll

A majority of the Polish public want the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, and other members of his government to stand trial over attempting to organise presidential elections by post amid the pandemic last year, a poll has found.

A court later ruled that his actions in attempting to hold the vote were a “gross violation of the law”. The state auditor last month notified prosecutors of suspected crimes by Morawiecki and three other ministers in relation to postal elections, which were eventually abandoned.

A poll by SW Research for Rzeczpospolita, a leading centre-right daily, asked respondents: “In your opinion, should Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and members of his government stand trial in relation to organising the so-called envelope elections?”

In response, 53% of respondents answered “yes” and 23% said “no”. The remaining 24% had no opinion. Positive answers were given more often by men (57%) than women (49%), and by people aged under 24 (around 66%) as well as those with higher education (55%).

When the government sought to organise Poland’s first-ever all-postal ballot for last year’s presidential elections, which were scheduled to take place in May, opinion polls showed that most people wanted them to instead be delayed. Many local authorities also refused to cooperate, arguing that the elections were illegal.

Eventually, a rebellion by a junior partner in the ruling coalition forced the government to abandon its plans for the vote. New elections instead took place in June and July, with a mixture of in-person and postal voting.

In September, Warsaw’s Provincial Administrative Court found that Morawiecki had violated the law and the constitution when ordering preparations for the elections. The prime minister is contesting that ruling, arguing that he acted lawfully and was constitutionally obliged to do everything possible to hold the vote.

In March this year, another court in Warsaw ruled that the digitisation ministry unlawfully transferred the personal data of Polish voters to the post office as part of failed efforts to organise the vote.

The post office and state-owned Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW) – which was in charge of printing ballot cards – were in January awarded 56 million zloty in state compensation for costs accrued in organising the abandoned elections.

Last month, the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) – a constitutional body charged with oversight of public spending – released a report which found that the government “lacked a legal basis” for its decision to prepare a mail-in ballot. NIK informed prosecutors of suspected crimes by the boards of the post office and PWPW.

Soon after, NIK also notified prosecutors of potential crimes committed by Morawiecki and his chief of staff Michał Dworczyk, as well as by the interior minister and minister for state assets. All four have denied wrongdoing and said that it was their duty to try to organise the elections.

The crime of which they are accused by NIK – “exceeding their authority, or not performing their duty…to the detriment of public or individual interest” – carries a potential prison sentence of up to three years.

In Poland, senior officials accused of crimes – including members of the government and the president – can be brought before the State Tribunal, a body tasked with holding them responsible for violations of the constitution or laws.

Main image credit: W. Kompała / KPRM (under public domain)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.