Supreme Court declares election results valid

The Polish Supreme Court's Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs Chamber recognised the election results of October 13 as valid on Monday.

"After analysing the PKW (State Electoral Commission - PAP) report and opinions expressed, in particular the shortcomings claimed in them, the Supreme Court considers that none of those shortcomings, as well as all of them combined, do not give grounds to question the validity of elections to the Sejm (lower house - PAP) and Senate of the Republic of Poland conducted on October 13, 2019," Judge Joanna Lemańska of the Supreme Court's Chamber of Extraordinary Control stated in the justification of the resolution.

On behalf of the Chamber, President Lemańska thanked all the judges of the PKW and participants in the electoral process, among other people, for their engagement in the organisation and running of the elections.

Earlier - during a sitting of the entire Supreme Court Chamber - the leader of the State Electoral Commission, Judge Wiesław Kozielewicz, and Deputy Prosecutor General Robert Hernand consented to the ruling of validity of the elections. Both men claimed that the electoral procedures had not led to any breach of the law that would result in a ruling of the elections' annulment.

Under the rules, the Supreme Court decides whether the elections were valid after examining all protests forwarded to it on the basis of a report on the elections prepared by the State Electoral Commission and opinions on specific protests issued at sittings. The procedures allow for objections to the election's validity to be submitted to the Supreme Court in writing within seven days of the results being announced.

Following this year's elections to the Sejm and Senate, 279 protests were sent to the Supreme Court. After their assessment, 10 were deemed reasonable, though the irregularities claimed did not have an influence on the elections' results. The charges made in 15 protests were considered invalid while the vast majority of objections were left without further treatment by the court, some being dealt with by other means.