We present a statement on the presidential election scheduled for June 28, signed by the Board of the Batory Foundation and members of the Legal Experts’ Team and Electoral Experts’ Team.

Statement on the presidential election scheduled for June 28

By refusing to declare a state of natural disaster and attempting to organize the election on May 10, 2020, amid an epidemiological threat—in a manner completely contrary to basic constitutional and democratic standards—the government and the parliamentary majority brought about an unprecedented crisis of the state and democratic institutions. Their actions deprived citizens of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, caused legal and political chaos, and disorganized the procedure for electing the president as the state’s highest representative and guarantor of the continuity of state authority. Basic standards of a democratic state governed by the rule of law were violated, and citizens’ trust in democratic procedures and institutions was undermined.

Only citizens can resolve the current crisis. Therefore, we believe that holding the election on June 28, 2020, may become an opportunity to restore the constitutional order in Poland.

The planned election is not free of flaws, including legal flaws. The legislature failed to provide equal opportunities for all candidates. The candidate backed by the ruling party benefits from enormous state resources, particularly the public television broadcaster that is effectively running his campaign. By exercising powers related to the ongoing epidemic, government administration bodies retain the ability to interfere in the electoral process. It is still uncertain whether, because of the epidemic, all voters—especially those living abroad—will be able to participate in the vote.

Despite this, we encourage citizens to participate in the election and cast their ballots at polling stations or by mail. What is truly at stake is not the choice of a particular candidate, but the future of democracy and the rule of law in Poland. Through no fault of our own, we are all currently acting in a state of higher constitutional necessity. Refraining from voting would be tantamount to giving up the right to decide Poland’s future and the opportunity to restore the rule of law. We believe that we cannot afford such a withdrawal at this time.

The current constitutional crisis undermines citizens’ trust in the fundamental institution of democracy: universal elections. Important mechanisms and institutions meant to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process have failed. It is therefore all the more important that the organization and conduct of the election be subject to close oversight by citizens. We encourage civil-society organizations and democratic groups to monitor the electoral process and respond whenever basic democratic standards are not respected in it. At the same time, we expect the authorities to ensure conditions that do not endanger the health of election participants.

The statement was signed by members of the Board of the Stefan Batory Foundation: Edwin Bendyk, Mikołaj Cześnik, Anna Materska-Sosnowska and Aleksander Smolar.

Legal Experts’ Team of the Stefan Batory Foundation:

  • Dr. habil. Piotr Bogdanowicz, Department of European Law, Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw
  • Łukasz Bojarski, president of the board of the Institute of Law and Society INPRiS, former member of the National Council of the Judiciary
  • Jacek Czaja, president of the Lublin Legal Society, former deputy minister of justice
  • Dr. habil. Monika Florczak-Wątor, professor in the Department of Constitutional Law at Jagiellonian University
  • Jarosław Gwizdak, lawyer, social activist, member of the Board of the Institute of Law and Society INPRIS
  • Dr. Wojciech Jasiński, assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Procedure at the University of Wrocław
  • Magdalena Mierzewska-Krzyżanowska, attorney-at-law, worked as a lawyer at the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and from 1993 to 1998 as a lawyer at the Secretariat of the European Commission of Human Rights
  • Dr. habil. Marcin Matczak, professor in the Department of Philosophy of Law and Political Philosophy at the University of Warsaw, partner at Domański Zakrzewski Palinka sp. k.
  • Dr. habil. Tomasz Pietrzykowski, professor in the Department of Theory and Philosophy of Law at the University of Silesia
  • Dr. habil. Anna Śledzińska-Simon, assistant professor in the Department of Constitutional Law at the University of Wrocław
  • Dr. Tomasz Zalasiński, member of the board of the Association named after Prof. Zbigniew Hołda, Domański Zakrzewski Palinka Law Office sp.k.
  • Prof. Dr. habil. Fryderyk Zoll, Department of Civil Law, Jagiellonian University, professor at the University of Osnabrück

Electoral Experts’ Team of the Stefan Batory Foundation:

  • Dr. habil. Mikołaj Cześnik, professor at SWPS University, Director of the SWPS Institute of Social Sciences
  • Dr. habil. Jarosław Flis, Institute of Journalism, Media and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University
  • Dr. Adam Gendźwiłł, assistant professor at the Department of Local Development and Policy, Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw
  • Dr. habil. Jacek Haman, Department of Statistics, Demography and Mathematical Sociology, Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw
  • Dr. Anna Materska-Sosnowska, Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw
  • Dr. habil. Bartłomiej Nowotarski, professor at the Wrocław University of Economics, Department of Philosophy and Economic History
  • Prof. Dr. habil. Jacek Raciborski, Department of Political Sociology, Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw
  • Prof. Dr. habil. Andrzej Rychard, director of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, member of the Council of the Stefan Batory Foundation