Basic presumptions in the judicial election verification process in a democratic state

The election verification process, understood as checking the correctness of their course within the legally prescribed framework, is an essential element of the election procedure in a democratic state. This process in a relatively short period of time, must lead to the declaration of validity or nullity of the elections, which is necessary for confirming or contradicting the democratic legitimacy of elected representatives of power. The complexity of the elections translates into the complexity of the process of their verification, which, in order to simplify it, leads to the use of legally established presumptions in it. The aim of this study is the theoretical analysis of the basic election presumptions of democratic states, i.e. the presumption of validity of elections and the presumption of constitutionality of the election procedure, taking into account the systemic dangers related to their incorrect application.

Verification of the validity of nationwide elections in Poland

The article discusses the procedure for verifying the validity of nationwide elections in Poland. The author draws attention to the important role attributed to elections as an essential element of the democratic system and the need to preserve the will expressed by the sovereign in voting. Verification of elections in Poland is carried out by the Supreme Court, in a two-stage procedure involving issuing an opinion on the election protests lodged and then passing a resolution on the validity of the elections. The author draws attention to the narrow and formalistic interpretation of legal norms in the course of issuing a resolution on the validity of elections.

Dysfunctionality of Election Protests in Poland in the Standard of Fair Elections

Fair elections are one of the foundations of electoral axiology in a democratic state ruled by law. Every citizen has the right to protest, and the justification of the citizen’s complaint is the public interest. An election protest is a legal measure to control the held General elections and its purpose is to protect the public interest in the electoral process. The standard of fair elections is not only a context for legal solutions strictly derived from the Constitution or the Electoral Code. The juridical architecture of electoral protests in Poland generally creates an effective mechanism to address obvious and flagrant violations of the law but remains dysfunctional from the perspective of the fair election standard. Nor does it provide an instrument to prevent a slide into electoral authoritarianism due to violations of the minimum criteria of democracy.