The Issue of Direct Submission of Candidates for Members of District Electoral Commissions

The aim of the article is to analyze the solution that allows voters to report directly to a member of the district electoral commission (without the participation of the election committee), in particular to present the advantages of such a solution from the point of view of the fairness of the election. The indicated procedure is an interesting solution both from the point of view of the voter and the election administration. In the first case, it eliminates the need for the voter to manifest his political sympathies. In the second one, it regulates the procedure of supplementing the committee members in the event of vacancies. As part of this paper, an attempt was also made to answer the question of what potential this procedure may have in the context of improving the electoral process. The formal and legal method was used in the work.

The Responsibility of the Financial Representative of an Electoral Committee for Illegal Financial Benefits Obtained by the Electoral Committee

The paper discusses the question of the nature of the forfeiture of the equivalent of a material benefit, as provided for in the Electoral Code, applied to the financial representative of the committee, and whether and under what conditions this regulation can be considered constitutionally permissible. This issue has not been the subject of extensive doctrinal analysis but is of practical importance. The article discusses the purpose of financing party electoral committees exclusively through the party’s electoral fund, as well as the reasons for introducing the discussed solution into the Electoral Code. Then, guided by the proportionality test developed by the Constitutional Tribunal, an assessment of the usefulness, necessity, and proportionality sensu stricto was carried out. This analysis led to the conclusion that the provisions establishing financial liability for the financial representative are indeed restrictive, but in the existing normative environment, they may be considered as meeting constitutional requirements.

The Political Consequences of Maladjustment of the Number of Mandates in Electoral Districts with Demographic Changes in the Polish Parliamentary Elections 2023

The subject of analysis in this article is the allocation of mandates among electoral districts in the elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland 2023 and its political consequences. According to the principle of electoral equality in material aspect, the number of voters per mandate in individual electoral districts should be the same or as close as possible. The National Electoral Commission has pointed out that the current division into electoral districts specified in the annexes to the Electoral Code violates this principle. Shifting mandates between electoral districts would alter the balance of political power in the parliament.