The European Parliament is the only parliamentary assembly of supranational character in the world, which is not composed of members of national parliaments but elected by direct suffrage. When in 1976 the Council of Ministers of the European Community decided to introduce direct universal suffrage, the elaboration of a uniform electoral procedure common to all Member States was expected to happen in the near future. Until the act was ready Member States could apply their own electoral procedures, whereas the community law regulated only essential matters, necessary to hold the elections in the Community. Obstacles which contributed to problems with the establishment of a uniform electoral system for elections to the European Parliament in the entire European Union led to the adoption of “common principles” of the European Parliament electoral procedures in 2002. Since 2002 several proposals for the modification of the electoral law have been made in each term of the European Parliament, aiming at its harmonisation. The aim of the article is to evaluate whether currently it is possible to modify the election system to the European Parliament, which would go further than the provisions of 2002 and whether it would improve the uniformity of applied electoral procedures.

Order a nationwide referendum by the President of the Republic of Poland in matters of particular importance to the State (selected problems)

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 granted the President of the Republic of Poland the right to order a nationwide referendum on issues of special importance for the state. Managing such a referendum is not made by the President of the Republic of Poland alone but requires the consent of the Senate in the form of a resolution. In Poland, after the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland in 1997, the institution of the referendum was to use only three times. The last referendum, which is the subject of the analysis was ordered on September 6, 2015. The problem of ordering a referendum by the President of the Republic of Poland, although seemingly obvious, gave birth to a number of practical problems – interpretation used the term “cases of special importance for the country,” judicial supervision of constitutionality and legality of the referendum, the correctness of the formulation of the referendum question.

Comments on proposed changes to the Election Code

The aim of the article is to present some selected proposals for changes within the Polish electoral law, which – despite the fact that they were formulated by the doctrine of constitutional law and international organizations overseeing the correctness of the election process and were raised in the legislative process – in most cases – have not yet been reflected in subsequent amendments to the Electoral Code. The analysis included the proposals reported by the National Electoral Commission regarding the changes in the provisions of the Code relating to the voting lists, the introduction into the Polish legal order of the national institutions the independent election observers, the admissibility of bringing an appeal to the court against the decisions of the National Electoral Commission, and some cyclical demands to abolish the election silence. The assessment of the indicated issues was made in the light of the OSCE’s position, the science of law, the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the proposed amendment bills to the electoral law.

Whether the Electoral Code of 5th January 2011 could be changed during the emergency state? Comments based on the provision of the Article 228 section 6 of the Polish Constitution

The article deals with the question, whether the limitation of particular laws’ amendments, sourced from the provision of the Article 228 section 6 of the Polish Constitution, covers the provisions of the Electoral Code or could that Code be changed during the state of emergency. The question is especially significant, because the above mention provision uses term of ‘electoral ordinance’ which is not used in the title of that Code. Formal and strict reconsideration of that’s question could mislead us to the conclusion, which says that the Codes’ changes are acceptable during the state of emergency. The Author, falsifying that thesis, advocates in favor of other conception, which explicitly express that neither the Codes’ nor its executives acts’ changes are acceptable during the state of emergency. The same limitation binds all legislative works connected with those legal acts, which shall be suspended.

11 stycznia 2018 r. Sejm RP uchwalił ustawę wprowadzającą wiele zmian do Kodeksu wyborczego. Najważniejsze zmiany dotyczyły administracji wyborczej, komisji wyborczych oraz praw wyborczych. Artykuł analizuje szczegółowe konsekwencje polityczne najważniejszych z tych reform. Autor dowodzi, że część z tych zmian, w szczególności dotyczących struktury Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej i administracji wyborczej jako takiej, może doprowadzić do kryzysu organizacyjnego i politycznego podczas wyborów samorządowych w 2018 r. Nie oznacza to jednak, że zmiany w obszarze prawa wyborczego nie są konieczne. Modyfikacje są potrzebą, ale wcześniej powinny być bardzo dokładnie przemyślane. System wyborczy jest bowiem jednym z najbardziej podanych na manipulacje instrumentów politycznych. Tymczasem uczciwa rywalizacja partyjna wymaga, aby reguły wyborcze nie były zmieniane zbyt pochopnie i często, zwłaszcza bezpośrednio przed wyborami.

Changes in Electoral Code according to local elections

In January 2018, the Sejm and Senate have passed hugely controversial law, which is supposed, according to its title, to „increase the participation of citizens in the process of electing, functioning and controlling certain public bodies”, amending inter alia Polish Electoral Code. This amendment destabilizes the electoral system without a clear or evident need short before the most hard and difficult electoral process – the local elections. The most controversial proposals concerned the changes in electoral administration and limiting the mayor (city president) to two terms in office. This law, may lead to politicization of the electoral administration, so there are risks of a loss the transparency of the election. The Author tries to present and evaluate most important changes resulting from new legislation.

The Principle of Proportionality in self-government electoral law

Taking advantage of the freedom to determine the electoral system for self-government bodies, it was largely decided to base it on the principle of proportionality. The proportionality of elections applies in the elections to municipal councils of communes with over 20,000 inhabitants, poviat councils and regional assemblies. As a result, this results in the dominant position of the principle of proportionality in shaping electoral systems in local government elections. The article analyzes the scope and form of the principle of proportionality of elections used in practice in elections to local self-government bodies, and also assessed the adequacy of political representation from the point of view of reflecting the distribution of votes cast by voters in the election and the deviation of this distribution from proportional representation.

The role of the administrative court in the process of dividing a commune into constituencies

The manner of determining the division of a commune into electoral constituencies and determining the number of seats per district is an expression of the implementation of the principle of equality of elections in a material sense. The proper division of a commune into constituencies is a guarantee of the equality of electoral law. The Electoral Code of 2011, originally stipulated that no legal remedy was available to the decisions of the National Electoral Commission issued as part of the verification of the provisions of the electoral commissioner. The Constitutional Tribunal, by a verdict of 6 April 2016, ruled that this regulation is unconstitution. The Act of January 11, 2018 introduced a two-instance control of the legality of the division of the commune into constituencies (before the provincial administrative court and before the Supreme Administrative Court). Subsequently, it was considered that, given that electoral activities related to the formation of constituencies and the change of their borders are covered by the electoral calendar and must be carried out without undue delay that the judicial review procedure should assume speed and efficiency of proceedings in this matter. The Act of June 15, 2018 amending the Act – Election Code and certain other acts amended the provisions on the jurisdiction and mode of judicial review of the electoral bodies’ acts on matters related to the creation of constituencies and on the deadline for lodging appeals and complaints to the court. Court proceedings in this matter have become one-instance, and complaints about resolutions of the National Electoral Commission regarding the division communes into electoral constituencies are to be recognized only by the Supreme Administrative Court. 

Evolution of parliamentary electoral law in the Republic of Albania after 1990

The aim of this article is to analyse the evolution of the Albanian parliamentary electoral law. In order to trace the changes that have taken place, a detailed analysis has been made of all Albanian electoral laws since 1990, along with their amendments. In the article, the authors indicate the components of the Albanian electoral system and examine the impact of its dynamics on the conditions of the Albanian political system after 1990. In connection with the adopted dependencies between the electoral and party systems, the authors would like to answer the question whether in this case the electoral system is the creator of dynamic changes in the party system of Albania.

The mechanisms of gender positive discriminations in the electoral law

The ongoing public debate in Poland concerning the implementation of equality instruments in the electoral law requires a legal analysis of these institutions, especially because the proposal of amendments was the effect of that debate. It is important that, it is necessary here to distinguish the quotas, specifying the minimum proportion of one sex on voting lists or the representative bodies and the parities, which define the equal participation of both sexes. Both these instruments are today in normative acts in many states, but their way of shots, like the non-execution and consequences of such a requirement is different. The regulations could be different to parties which unrealized formal requirements. As a consequence they could prove to deny the possibility of the electoral lists registration or they could only know the financial restriction. The problem of the gender equality on the election lists can be considered as a violation of principle of equality of elections, especially when it directly changes the result of the election. On the other hand, it provides increasing equality in parliament. It should be noted that the regulations identical with the Polish proposal had never been introduced. That proposition which states that the number of women on electoral lists may not be less than 50%, violates the constitutional principle of equality.

The Partial Incapacitation vs. Voting Rights in the Light of European  Standards

The article consists of two parts. In the first part the author describes the principle of the universality and a problem of electoral censuses. In the second part the author shows an issue of voting rights of people placed under partial guardianship in the light of the third article of the First Protocol to The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The principle of universality means that the right to vote belongs to everybody who fulfils conditions described in the Constitution and in statutes. Censuses are exceptions from the principle of the universality. According to the art. 62 sect. 2 of the Polish Constitution the incapacitation excludes a person from the right to vote. In this part of the article the author also describes premises of partial incapacitation and its legal and social consequences. The article 3 of the provides for the right to regular, free and fair elections. The European Court of Human Rights in his judgment from the day of 20 May 2010 (case of Alajos Kiss vs. Hungary) has find out that an absolute bar on voting by any person under partial guardianship, irrespective of his or her actual faculties, disturbs the pointed above article of the Protocol. The author of the article acknowledges that provisions of art. 3 of the First Protocol to The Convention and provisions of Polish statutes that regulated problems of the right to vote do not disturb the Polish Constitution especially it’s art. 62. But there is discrepancy between the art. 3 of the Protocol and Polish statutes which exclude people under partial guardianship from the right to vote. In conclusion the author suggests establishing some changes in Polish statutes.

The codification of the electoral law in Poland – the scope and meaning

The article describes the most important changes in electoral law brought in by The electoral code, passed in January, 5 th 2011. There are (among others): exceptions of personal polling rule, postal ballot, new rules of creating of constituencies, new regulations regarding electoral organs, election campaign and – new in Poland – single member plurality system in elections to the Senat and also – regulations regarding parity in electoral lists.

Constitutional basis for the electoral law in light of the Constitutional Polls

This article concentrates on estimates and propositions in the area of electoral law which were presented in „The Constitutional Poll”, arranged by „The Institute Of Public Affairs” in 2010 and 2011. Those propositions, reported by the Polish constitutionalists, concern the scope and detail of regulation, its form, the various principles of electoral law, especially new regulatory issues in the context of the needs of their constitutionalization. Author focuses on electoral law to the both diet of Polish parliament, the President office and the organs of self-government, incidentally analyzing the process of The Constitutional Court members’ election.

It is without any doubt that one of the most important elements of every democratic political system is a Parliament, that is, a collective authority elected in direct elections, which is simultaneously an emanation of will of citizens as a sovereign. Over the years of the technological development of societies and evolution of the economic cooperation amongst states, its role and scope of responsibilities have gradually grown. The European Parliament is one of the key elements of the institutional system of the European Union, and thus, the only body, the composition of which is elected in direct election. This body, as a forum for universal representation by the elected deputies from the member states, brings together views and positions not only of the representatives but also of their electorate. The parliament is also an expression of the multinational EU community, its voice and its desire to have influence on the fate of the entire EU.
This article presents the evolution of the European Parliament and of the election law concerning this body, since its formation as an institution of the European Union until now. The purpose of this article is to present changes which have taken place in the EU legislation in respect of the electoral law, on the basis of which members of the parliament are elected, since the formation of the EP. The main subject of this article covers following issues: how the evolution process of the parliament has looked like over the years, how its position in the institutional architecture of the EU has been evolving and how it has been endeavoured to harmonize electoral procedures to this body over the years. The article is about the evolutionary political position of the EP. The article focuses on selected aspects of unification of the electoral procedure for the election to the EP due to their path-breaking character and importance of the procedure being currently in force.

Electronic voting in the Åland Islands –empty promise or real scenario?

New technologies are becoming more and more frequently used in public administration and in the electoral law. Further states consider introducing an electronic voting as an alternative method of casting votes. It seems to be an attractive solution as it is expected to increase the electorate mobilisation. The Åland Islands, which are autonomous territory of Finland, are planning to ensure the Internet voting starting from 2019. It is the first stage of introducing i-voting in the Åland Islands and at this point only expats are enable to exercise the right to use it. The method is accessory to the traditional way of voting in a polling station and it applies merely to the elections to the authorities of the autonomy.

Basic principles of electoral law in the Polish People’s Republic and the Third Polish Republic

This article presents a comparison of the principles of electoral law in the Polish People’s Republic and the Third Polish Republic: political deliberations pertaining to elections in a democratic system and an undemocratic (authoritarian) system. In theory, there were not major differences between the two. The paper does not analyse the very practice of elections.

District Electoral Commissions in Municipal Elections. Selected Issues in the Light of Practice of Local Election From 2018

The subject of the article is the analysis of the shape of district electoral commissions in municipal elections. The considerations contained in the paper were based on the binding legal regulations and the conclusions from the electoral practice of the municipal elections from 2018. The first part of the article discusses the significance of the electoral commissions for the electoral process. The second part of the study is devoted to the procedure for nominating candidates of the commissions. Subsequently, the entities responsible for appointment of the electoral commissions and the current rules for their functioning are discussed. Finally the article contains the conclusions with critical remarks about the current institutional shape and the mode of appointing the electoral commissions.

The Use of Censuses in Elections to Constitutive Bodies of Local Government Units

The basic issue when determining the principle of universal suffrage is to indicate the group of people who shall have the right to vote. However, it may be restricted by suffrage censuses. The 21st century brought the significant challenges in determining entities that can benefit from the electoral rights, also in the elections to constitutive entities of local government units. It should be remembered that the world is still subject to the numerous processes of change. Therefore, the electoral law cannot be indifferent to it but should be adjusted by the legislator to the changing conditions in which given individuals function. The author of this study has analyzed existing legal solutions and is trying to answer the question of whether current regulations can be considered optimal, or whether there is a need for a new definition of constraints on electoral law, in the context of globalization processes that result in much more frequent and easier movement of people, and associated with this mixing of citizens of individual countries, or residents of the local government units of territorial units.

The article concerns the Polish regulation and practice concerning postal voting. After presenting some background information on postal voting in Poland, such as the circumstances of its introduction in 2011 and changes it has undergone since then, the author focuses on the latest amendments related to postal voting in the presidential election that were ordered for 10 May 2020. The issue has recently become extremely topical as the ruling party wanted to use postal voting for a large scale as a remedy for problems with holding the traditional election due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That idea was followed by the adoption of a specific law which, however, has aroused many controversies and great doubts about its constitutionality, mainly related to the way it was proceeded.

The article examines the thesis that the electoral law in Poland is treated instrumentally. Changes of postal voting regulations in Poland have been collated with solutions applied in other countries. The analysis focuses on the motivation politicians had to revise the Election Code and introduce postal voting. The article indicates to the ad hoc nature of solutions adopted and their short-term political benefits for various political groupings. The discussion focuses on the course of political actions related to the presidential election in Poland during the coronavirus pandemic.