Poland’s supreme court upholds presidential election results

The Polish Supreme Court has released an official resolution on Monday, which validated the election victory of President Andrzej Duda on July 12, 2020.

The head of the judiciary staff responsible for the resolution, Ewa Stefańska, explained that the supreme court considered all circumstances in its decision, including those which were not officially filed as election protests.

Previously, the head of the National Electoral Commission (PKW), Sylwester Marciniak, and the deputy prosecutor general, Robert Hernand, also put forward the motion to confirm Duda’s election.

A total of 5,847 election protests were filed to the supreme court — a number that was substantially higher than in the case of previous elections. Only in 1995 were more election protests reported.

The Supreme Court’s Chamber of Extraordinary Control finished investigating the protests on Sunday.

It concluded that 93 accusations within them were partially or fully considered to be substantial, but without an effect on the elections.

The majority of protests were left without further consideration.

The supreme court also left Rafał Trzaskowski’s election committee’s protest without further analysis. According to the supreme court’s spokesman Aleksander Stępkowski, the committee’s protest “partially exceeded its legal subject and boundaries established by the election codex”.

The supreme court is required to affirm the validity of elections in a resolution which must be published within 21 days of announcing the results of the election to the public.

The supreme court decides the validity of an election based on opinions given after considering protests and a report prepared by the PKW concerning the elections.

Duda will be sworn in for a second term on Aug. 6 by the National Assembly, which is a combined deliberation of both the lower house of parliament, the Sejm and upper house of the Senate.