The graphic design of certificates allowing voting outside of one’s place of residence should be modified — ruled the Supreme Court, deeming an electoral protest related to this issue as justified. At the same time, the Court concluded that the issue raised in the protest did not affect the overall outcome of the election.
Around noon on Friday, the Chamber of Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court held a public session to review another protest concerning the presidential election. The Court found the protest justified but determined it had no impact on the election results — as it effectively concerned a situation where two votes could not be cast in the second round of the election held on June 1.
The case involved a married couple who, before the presidential election, obtained certificates from the Koszalin municipal office that allowed them to vote outside their place of residence in both the first and second rounds.
During the first round of voting on May 18, due to vision problems, they handed all their certificates to a member of the electoral commission at a polling station in Limanowa so that the correct documents could be selected. However, the commission member — as it later turned out — made a mistake and took the wrong certificates. As a result, when the couple came to vote in the second round two weeks later, they presented certificates meant for the first round. Because of this, they were unable to vote on June 1.
Presiding judge Joanna Lemańska, chair of the three-judge Supreme Court panel, stated in the reasoning behind the decision that “there is no doubt that this was likely a mistake that resulted in the couple being unable to exercise their voting rights in the second round.” She added that the electoral commission acted correctly in the second round — it could not issue ballots based on the wrong certificates.
“These certificates must be modified to some extent. (…) The graphic layout — specifically the fact that information about which round the certificate was for was printed in small font at the bottom of the document — could indeed lead to confusion,” Judge Lemańska pointed out. She added that, for instance, the certificates for different rounds could be printed on differently colored paper.
National Electoral Commission (NEC) Chairman Sylwester Marciniak, speaking during the Supreme Court session regarding this protest, said that over 315,000 people voted in the first round using such certificates, with over 333,000 certificates issued. In the second round, over 531,000 people voted with certificates, while more than 550,000 were issued.
“This shows that the number of people who voted using a certificate was lower than the number of certificates issued — which happens in every election. What would be more concerning is if precinct electoral commissions reported more voters using certificates than the number of certificates issued,” said Marciniak.