Commission to notify prosecutors of potential crimes in 2020 postal voting
MZ/MW
10.10.2024, 19:44
A special parliamentary commission investigating the failed 2020 postal presidential election in Poland has submitted notifications to prosecutors concerning alleged crimes committed by senior officials from the previous government.
The commission, established after the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party lost power, announced on Thursday that it has notified prosecutors about suspected offenses involving 19 individuals.
The commission was formed to scrutinize the controversial postal voting plan, which was intended for the 2020 presidential election but was eventually abandoned. The botched plan, which Poland’s Supreme Audit Office (NIK) estimates cost the state 76.5 million złoty (€18 million), sparked significant political and public backlash.
Among those facing potential prosecution are prominent political figures, including former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, PiS President Jarosław Kaczyński, and former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński.
The list also includes former Sejm Speaker Elżbieta Witek, former Minister of State Assets Jacek Sasin, and several other high-ranking officials from the PiS government, as well as members of the management boards of Polish Post and the Polish Security Printing Works.
Despite earlier announcements of 12 criminal notifications, the commission ultimately voted on 10, two of which were filed against Morawiecki and Kamiński. The commission also decided to file a complaint against the Warsaw-Mokotów Prosecutor's Office for its refusal to share documents requested during the investigation.
The 2020 postal vote was abandoned due to concerns over its legality and preparedness amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The parliamentary investigation is part of a broader effort by the new government to hold PiS officials accountable for what has been described as a costly and failed election plan.
COVID-19 and postal voting
On April 16, 2020, the Polish parliament passed an Act suspending aspects of the Electoral Code, including preparing ballot cards.
The National Election Commission responded by saying that depriving it “of the legal possibility of printing ballot cards made voting in the Polish presidential elections on May 10, 2020, impossible. Ballot cards are a necessary condition for conducting the vote.”
But the Act enabled the then Prime Minister Morawiecki to instruct the Polish Post “to take action in the field of counteracting COVID-19.” In practice, this would mean undertaking and introducing the necessary measures to make it possible to prepare for the Presidential General Elections via postal voting in 2020.
