The tug of war over the presidential election in Poland continues. So that it can take place on Sunday despite the corona epidemic as planned, a new right to vote should allow pure postal voting. Parliament has the last word on this - but the government camp is divided.
Warsaw (dpa) - A few days before the presidential election in Poland, the first chamber of parliament in Warsaw today wants to deal with a controversial change in the right to vote.
The Senate, the second chamber of Parliament, dominated by the opposition, voted against the project of the national-conservative governing party PiS on Tuesday evening. The plan is to hold the presidential election scheduled for May 10 because of the coronavirus epidemic only by letter. Since the postal vote was previously not used in Poland, an amendment to the law is necessary.
The final word on the bill now has the first chamber of parliament, the Sejm. The PiS has an absolute majority there and can pass the law despite the Senate's rejection.
The opposition is calling for the election day to be rescheduled because an election campaign is not possible due to the restrictions on public life. The PiS wants to stick to the date despite the epidemic - its candidate Andrzej Duda leads in all surveys. The so-called "Envelope Law" is also controversial because the Polish Post is considered to be unreliable. There are strong doubts whether all voters will get their papers in time. In its draft law, the PiS therefore also provided the option of postponing the election to May 17 or May 23.
According to the agenda, voting on the right to vote in the Sejm is scheduled for Thursday. According to information from the news agency PAP, it should be brought forward to Wednesday afternoon due to the limited time. However, there is a group in the PiS Group that also rejects the postal voting option. If these MPs drop out, the presidential election cannot take place next Sunday as planned. There is no preparation for a conventional poll in polling stations.
Even if the law changes, a postponement to May 17 or May 23 is more likely. A response from the Election Commission to a question from Parliament President Elzbieta Witek shows that next Sunday's election is “impossible for legal and organizational reasons”.
Draft law to change electoral law (Polish)
