PKW approved its official report on the presidential election on Monday afternoon, incorporating several amendments proposed by commissioner Ryszard Balicki - including one that revised the report’s final conclusions.
The report was adopted by a vote of six in favor, one against, and two abstentions. It will now be forwarded to the Supreme Court, which is responsible for determining the validity of the election.
Report flags irregularities in voting process
In the 37-page document, the PKW acknowledged that several incidents during the voting process - particularly in the second round - could have affected the outcome. Among the most serious concerns were the use of unauthorized software by members of some local electoral commissions to verify voter certificates, potentially resulting in eligible voters being wrongly denied the right to vote.
The report also cited recurring errors in precinct-level tally sheets, including misattributions of votes among candidates.
The PKW emphasized that assessing the impact of these irregularities falls within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. It also stressed that this review must be carried out by a panel whose legal standing and independence are fully consistent with Poland’s constitution and international standards.
Electoral commission doesn’t know who won the election, says Giertych
According to Roman Giertych, a prominent Polish lawyer and member of the Civic Platform party - part of the ruling Civic Coalition - the key statement in the National Electoral Commission’s (PKW) report concerns “incidents that may have influenced the outcome of the vote.”
"Whether these incidents actually affected the result should be determined by the Supreme Court," he said on his YouTube channel.
Roman Giertych emphasized that this assessment is expected to be carried out by a “bogus extraordinary chamber” that, according to international tribunals, is not legally authorized to perform this function.
He called the situation absurd, arguing that although the official vote count points to a victory for Karol Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the populist right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, electoral fraud in the second round of voting may have influenced the final result.
“As a consequence, on June 16, the National Electoral Commission effectively admitted in its report that it does not know who won the 2025 presidential election in Poland,” Giertych said, stressing that “we are facing large-scale electoral fraud.”
The lawyer announced he would hold a press conference on 18 June to outline the legal consequences of the PKW's resolution, which acknowledged that the alleged irregularities could have influenced the election outcome in Poland.
Right-wing stronghold in key local election commissions sparks controversy
Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza has revealed that a large number of local election commissions, where most errors and complaints were reported during the presidential runoff, were staffed predominantly by supporters of right-wing candidates. Of the 6,655 commission chairs in the second round, most were aligned closer to Karol Nawrocki than Rafał Trzaskowski, giving Nawrocki a potential advantage.
Earlier, legal news site prawo.pl reported a sharp rise in invalid ballots during the second round - 189,294 in total, more than double the first round - with the most common issue being voters marking an “X” next to both candidates’ names.
This is a significant issue because the presence of multiple marks on a ballot automatically leads to its invalidation, raising concerns about the potential effect on the election outcome.
As of 17 June, Poland’s Supreme Court had received more than 5,100 election protests, with additional complaints still being processed.
While nearly 300,000 people have signed a petition calling for a recount, the outcome is unlikely to be overturned, as Karol Nawrocki – backed by the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party – secured a margin of over 369,000 votes ahead of pro-European Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski.
Read more about this topic:
Source: PKW/Gazeta Wyborcza/X/@erbalicki/@GiertychRoman/@Bertold_K /YouTube/@RomanGiertych
(mp)