Poland’s 2025 presidential election ended with a clear winner: Karol Nawrocki was elected president in a two-round vote held in May and June. On paper, the process followed constitutional procedures. In practice, however, a growing number of Polish legal experts argue that the election exposed serious cracks in the country’s democratic safeguards.
A newly published report by the non-governmental Association Prawnicy dla Polski (“Lawyers for Poland”) documents what it describes as a pattern of institutional pressure surrounding the vote. According to the authors—judges, prosecutors, and constitutional scholars—the problem was not ballot stuffing or mass fraud, but something more subtle and more dangerous: the politicization of institutions meant to remain neutral.
At the center of the controversy stands the Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza (National Electoral Commission). Once dominated by judges, it is now largely appointed by parliamentary majorities. During the 2025 campaign, this body oversaw elections while simultaneously holding decisive power over party financing and access to public funds—raising concerns about conflicts of interest and unequal treatment.
The report also highlights unequal access to public media, delayed payment of statutory funds to the opposition despite binding court rulings, and growing political attacks on the Supreme Court of Poland after it confirmed the validity of the election. Notably, criticism of the Court intensified only once its rulings proved inconvenient for the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Why should this matter outside Poland?
Because democratic backsliding today rarely takes the form of tanks in the streets. It happens through legal ambiguity, selective respect for court judgments, pressure on oversight bodies, and the slow normalization of the idea that elections must produce the “right” outcome. The Polish case shows how even a formally correct election can lose legitimacy if public trust in institutions collapses.
The authors of “Elections on Fire – The Course of the 2025 Presidential Elections in Poland” do not call for overturning the result. Instead, they issue a warning: democracy depends not only on voting day, but on the neutrality of the state before, during, and after the vote.
Readers interested in the detailed legal analysis, documented cases, and full evidence are strongly encouraged to read the complete report attached below this article.