It is “certain” that some polling stations abroad will not be able to count votes in this Sunday’s parliamentary elections before the deadline for submitting them, the spokesman for Poland’s foreign ministry, Łukasz Jasina, has admitted. That would result in the votes being invalidated.
Jasina’s remarks contradict those of the foreign ministry earlier this week, who said that his department was “spectacularly well prepared” for overseeing overseas voting despite a record number of Poles abroad registering to vote.
Shortly after Jasina made his comments today, he announced he was leaving his position. Later, the foreign ministry confirmed that he had been fired for spreading “false information” about preparedness for the elections.
A record 608,000 Poles have registered to vote abroad in Sunday’s elections – a figure almost equal to the population of Poland’s fourth-largest city, Łódź.
It is by far the highest-ever number in any Polish election and almost double the 2019 total https://t.co/d88SeYiQzI
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 12, 2023
Many commentators have warned that polling stations overseas could be overwhelmed by the number of voters. The foreign ministry itself has issued warning messages to those registering to vote abroad that there may be long queues.
Poland’s main opposition group, Civic Coalition (KO), this week called for the electoral commission to extend the 24-hour deadline for votes to be counted. In recent elections, a large majority of overseas voters have voted for opposition parties and candidates.
Speaking today to broadcaster RMF, Jasina admitted that “there will certainly be [overseas electoral] commissions who won’t be able to do this. This is just a purely statistical thing”.
„Na pewno zdarzą się takie komisje, które nie będą tego w stanie zrobić” – przyznaje w rozmowie z @RMF24pl Łukasz Jasina @RzecznikMSZ rzecznik MSZ pytany o kwestię policzenia głosów w komisjach poza granicami kraju. „Nie będę przed państwem taił, że się rzeczywiście bardzo o to… pic.twitter.com/ZarpgrXH0Q
— Paweł Żuchowski (@p_zuchowski) October 13, 2023
“I’m an optimist and everything has always worked out somehow”, he added. “But I will not hide from you that we are really very worried about this, we are worried about the deadlines for counting votes.”
Less than three hours after the interview was broadcast, Jasina announced that he was departing as the foreign ministry’s spokesman. “A press officer is a sapper, and every sapper can step on a mine,” he said, without providing any further comment on why he was leaving.
Around an hour after Jasina’s announcement, the foreign ministry issued a statement of its own saying that it was “convinced” that overseas election committees would be able to count all votes in time.
It added that the spokesman had been “dismissed from his position…due to providing false information about the degree of preparation…for organising the elections abroad”.
Drodzy państwo. Rzecznik prasowy to saper a każdego sapera może wysadzić mina. Kończąc obowiązki Rzecznika MSZ – dziękuję wszystkim. Dobranoc i do usłyszenia.
— Łukasz Jasina (@LukaszJasina) October 13, 2023
During a press conference this afternoon, the president of the electoral commission, Sylwester Marciniak, was asked about Jasina’s claims.
He responded that it is the foreign ministry which is responsible for overseeing overseas voting. But he noted that, if there are concerns about a polling station being able to cope, the number of election commissioners there can be increased to a maximum of 13.
Speaking alongside Marciniak, Magdalena Pietrzak, the secretary of the electoral commission, said that no overseas voting district has more than 4,000 registered voters and very few have more than 3,000. That should mean that votes can be counted in time, she said, cited by RMF.
British-based Polish journalist Jakub Krupa notes that among the ten largest voting districts in the elections are two abroad: Stavanger in Norway, which has 3,885 registered voters, and London Ilford in the UK, which has 3,520.
10 największych komisji na świecie:
1. Wrocław 148 – 4102
2. Stavanger – 3885 🇳🇴
3. Wrocław 46 – 3864
4. Sulejówek 1 – 3732
5. Warszawa Wola 280 – 3708
6. Gdańsk 75 – 3676
7. Warszawa Ursus 703 – 3667
8. Gdańsk 75 – 3607
9. Poznań 109 – 3564
10. Londyn Ilford – 3520 🇬🇧 https://t.co/xleuXL1Riz— Jakub Krupa (@JakubKrupa) October 13, 2023
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This article has been updated to include the foreign ministry’s statement.
Main image credit: MSZ (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
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.
