The head of the District Electoral Commission in Gdańsk, Judge Julia Kuciel, issued a directive stating that “members of electoral commissions, and even more so election observers, are not authorized to record certificate numbers or any other data, nor to verify them using any application.” These claims were publicly refuted by the head of the National Electoral Office (KBW), Rafał Tkacz.
“There is absolutely no ban on commission members recording the numbers of voting certificates issued. It’s not a crime, it’s not a problem,” Tkacz said during a press conference.
As reported by niezalezna.pl, the Election Monitoring Movement (Ruch Kontroli Wyborów) has developed a dedicated application to help verify whether someone is attempting to vote multiple times using certificates allowing them to vote outside their constituency.
Meanwhile, in Gdańsk, Commissioner Julia Kuciel issued instructions forbidding such verification and instructed that any attempts to do so be reported to the District Electoral Commission.
During a press conference held by the National Electoral Commission (PKW), a segment of Kuciel’s directive was read aloud:
“Commission members, and even more so election observers, are not authorized to record certificate numbers or any other data, nor to verify them using any application. All attempts by observers to verify certificates must be immediately reported to the District Electoral Commission.”
KBW Chief Calls Out Gdańsk Judge
Rafał Tkacz, head of the KBW, directly addressed the controversy:
“The PKW did not issue any statement on this matter, there’s no official position. No one really even asked us about it. Again, there’s no ban on recording certificate numbers—there’s no crime in doing so, nothing to hide. As we’ve said many times, if someone wants to write down the numbers on a sheet of paper, that’s not an issue.”
Does the PKW Know What Regional Commissions Are Issuing?
When asked whether the PKW was aware of the source of the directive, members appeared surprised upon learning it originated in Gdańsk.
“We will definitely check whether this situation occurred. It will be analyzed by the PKW. We’ll contact the District Commission to confirm whether such a directive was issued,” said PKW chairman Sylwester Marciniak.
The question of whether the PKW is aware of what regional commission heads are authorizing caused some visible tension.
“There is a hierarchy among electoral commissions: precinct commissions are overseen by district commissions, and district commissions are overseen by the PKW. For context, we have 32,000 precinct commissions and 49 district commissions. I can assure voters and the media that we are in control of the situation. We will look into this and provide a clear explanation,” Marciniak concluded.