Page 137 - Conducting Elections during COVID-19

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A woman in traditional dress casts her vote while holding her baby in Ząb, near Zakopane.

Postal Vote Option

Postal voting, introduced under the Election Code in 2014, was primarily used by voters abroad and
later on limited to PwDs’ voters. Though, the total number of postal votes was very limited yet concerns
had been raised by stakeholders that it was not sufficiently secure, did not safeguard secrecy and was
vulnerable to fraud. Legislative proposals for conduct of election through postal vote, as an alternate
to match the challenge posed by increasing COVID-19 cases, only met with severe criticism. Unlike
the postal voting procedure envisioned by the Election Code, no prior application to vote by post was
envisaged in the proposed ‘Postal Bill’. Postal voting packets were to be sent to all registered voters,
who would return their ballots to designated collection boxes on Election Day. The postal service would
collect the returned ballots and deliver them to the PECs. These and other details of the proposed
postal voting procedure were spelt out in a draft act that was adopted by the Sejm on 6 April 2020
and submitted to the Senat. In addition to this separate bill, several election-related amendments were
inserted into the draft ‘anti-crisis’ legislation. The proposed bill, per se, altered the shape of existing
arrangements inter alia for conduct of elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. Practically little prior
consultations were held with the stakeholders on the postal voting initiative. Notwithstanding the legal,
legislative and the administrative complexities the Bill faced, the postal voting bill which provided for
holding election on 10th May was adopted by the Sejm, signed by the President and published in the
official gazette, it came into force on 9th May,2020, but its implementation was rather challenging.
Revised New Legislation

On 12 May 2020, a revised draft legislation on conducting the 2020 presidential election was adopted
by the Sejm and submitted to the Senat the following day. On 2 June, the Sejm voted on the Senat’s
amendments and President signed the adopted act. It was published in the official gazette the same
day. On 3 June Marshal (Speaker) of the Sejm announced the new election date for 28 June.