Supreme Court

TIME LIMIT

Protests against the validity of the elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and the Senate of the Republic of Poland shall be lodged with the Supreme Court in writing within 7 days of the day on which the election results were announced by the National Electoral Commission (PKW) in the Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland (Dziennik Ustaw Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej). It is not possible to effectively lodge a protest before the election results are announced.

HOW TO LODGE A PROTEST

• Voters who are staying abroad may lodge an election protest to the Supreme Court with the territorially competent consul. Such voters must attach to their protest a notice of appointment of their representative resident in Poland or a representative for delivery resident in Poland. A protest sent to the consul by foreign post or courier must be received by the consular office before the expiry of the time limit for lodging a protest.
• Election protest can be lodged directly to the Supreme Court by foreign post or courier, however, such a protest, must be received by the Supreme Court before the expiry of the time limit for lodging a protest. Therefore, sending a protest by e.g. a courier does not guarantee that the time limit for lodging a protest will be met.

WHO CAN LODGE A PROTEST

The right to lodge an election protest is vested in a specific group of entities. These are: the voter, the election agent and the chairman of the competent electoral commission. No other entity, e.g. a company, foundation, union, etc. can lodge a protest. Complainants are not obliged to appoint a professional representative (advocate, attorney-at-law), they can lodge a protest in person.

FORMAL REQUIREMENTS

The protest must be lodged in writing. Lodging of an election protest in a form other than in writing, i.e. by fax, e-mail, or ePUAP, is not admissible.

An election protest, in order to be examined on its merits, MUST NOT CONTAIN FORMAL DEFECTS. The protest must meet the requirements provided for in the Electoral Code, as well as meet the general conditions of a pleading specified in Article 126 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedure, i.e. it must include, in particular:

• identification of the entity lodging the protest with the address and PESEL number;
• indication in which of the polling districts in the area of the relevant electoral district the name of the person lodging the protest was included in the registry of voters - if the protest is lodged by a voter;
• designation of the representative resident in Poland or of the representative for delivery resident in Poland with the indication of his/her address - if a representative was appointed (the document authorizing to represent the voter should be attached to the protest);
• request for a declaration of invalidity of the election/election in the particular electoral district/election of a MP/senator;
• allegations;
• presentation or indication of the evidence on which the allegations are based;
• reasons for the allegations;
• the handwritten signature of the person lodging the protest or his/her representative.