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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s main opposition party, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), has launched an effort to recruit volunteers for an “Election Protection Movement” intended to prevent the ruling coalition from “stealing” this year’s presidential election.
The party has created a new website intended to enlist and train 120,000 people to “monitor the electoral process and ensure its fairness and transparency”.
🟦 Ponad 120 tys. polskich patriotów w Ruchu Ochrony Wyborów, członków komisji, mężów zaufania, w 2,5 tys. polskich gmin będzie patrzeć na ręce Koalicji 13 grudnia. Nie mamy żadnej wątpliwości, że oni naprawdę chcą ukraść zwycięstwo Karolowi Nawrockiemu – Poseł PiS… pic.twitter.com/86D9gG1ADz
— Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (@pisorgpl) February 20, 2025
“We have no doubt that they [Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s ruling coalition] really want to steal victory from Karol Nawrocki,” said PiS MP Janusz Kowalski today, announcing the plans.
Nawrocki is a technically independent candidate running for the presidency with the support of PiS. Polls currently put him in second place, on around 24%, behind frontrunner Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO).
As evidence, Kowalski pointed to alleged attacks by the ruling coalition on the Supreme Court – which is responsible for confirming election results – and the National Electoral Commission, as well as its takeover of public media and the National Prosecutor’s Office.
“All of this [has been done] in order to close the system,” claimed Kowalski, “so that Rafał Trzaskowski and Tusk can take in immigrants, send Polish soldiers to Ukraine, carry out every kind of directive that comes from Berlin and Brussels.”
Tusk’s government has pledged that it will not accept any relocated asylum seekers under the EU’s new migration pact (which in any case does not require member states to do so) and has also ruled out sending Polish soldiers to Ukraine.
PiS, however, argues that the ruling coalition has repeatedly broken promises before and that it is subservient to the demands of the EU and Germany.
"The decisions of the European elites…brought us Russia’s attack on Ukraine," says Karol Nawrocki, the presidential candidate of conservative opposition party PiS.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused Nawrocki of promoting "the Kremlin's narrative" https://t.co/Ce6N9cTTdu
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 20, 2025
Speaking alongside Kowalski, Przemysław Czarnek, a former PiS education minister, said that they already “have an army of almost 3,000 people” dedicated to protecting the elections, the first round of which takes place on 18 May.
But now a website has been launched allowing people to register for an Election Protection Movement (ROW), which is led by Czarnek.
“This initiative aims to counteract possible electoral irregularities and strengthen citizens’ trust in the democratic process,” reads the website, which will also be used to train those who sign up for ROW.
Kowalski says that they aim to enlist “over 120,000 Polish patriots” in the movement, who can then serve on electoral commissions across all of Poland’s roughly 30,000 voting districts (as citizens are allowed to do).
Poland’s @AndrzejDuda has suggested that the EU might interfere in May’s elections to choose his successor as president.
He says the @EU_Commission “does not like conservatives ruling Poland” and claims it interfered in Romania's recent annulled elections https://t.co/TdRdgBiZoA
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 6, 2025
In recent weeks, PiS and its allies have expressed concerns over potential interference in the elections. PiS-aligned President Andrzej Duda – whose second and final term ends this year – recently suggested that the EU could intervene in the elections as it “does not like conservatives ruling in Poland”.
Meanwhile, PiS members has strongly criticised a bill recently passed by the government’s majority in parliament changing how the Supreme Court confirms election results.
Meanwhile, the government itself announced measures last month to protect the integrity of the elections from potential attempts at interference, in particular from Russia.
Its plan encompasses monitoring social media for disinformation, organising training for NGOs, journalists and electoral committees, and bolstering cybersecurity.
Poland says it has identified a group linked to Russia’s intelligence services that is spreading disinformation with the aim of influencing the upcoming presidential election.
The government will later this month present a plan for countering such efforts https://t.co/sHLsAJhCRy
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 13, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Pisorg/X
Agata Pyka is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a journalist and a political communication student at the University of Amsterdam. She specialises in Polish and European politics as well as investigative journalism and has previously written for Euractiv and The European Correspondent.
