In Otwock, Poland, the Warsaw‑Praga District Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against nine members of a presidential voting commission for counting errors.
Charges Filed Against Nine Commission Members
The Warsaw‑Praga District Prosecutor’s Office announced that nine members of Electoral Commission No. 7 in Otwock will face charges. Evidence gathered allowed the prosecutor to issue decisions to bring the individuals before the court.
Nature of the Counting Errors
The alleged mistakes involved mis‑counting votes cast for incumbent President Karol Nawrocki and incorrectly recording votes for other candidates. The errors were identified during the official tallying process.
Investigative Findings: Unintentional Mistakes
Investigators found that the irregularities stemmed from a lack of data verification in the electronic results transmission system and from inaccuracies in drafting the voting protocol. Members of the commission were also found to have accepted marked ballots that did not carry the required seal.
The court has determined that the commission members’ actions were not intentional, and the errors were deemed unintentional.
Election Results, Protests, and Supreme Court Decision
The 2025 presidential election took place on 18 May and 1 June, with Karol Nawrocki declared the winner. After the vote, nationwide protests rose over alleged tallying errors in several precincts.
The Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs Chamber of the Supreme Court accepted two protests covering 12 committees but found no impact on the final outcome. The court ultimately upheld the election result on 1 July.
Broader Review of Voting Committees
As part of a wider audit, the prosecutor’s office examined 250 voting committees across Poland. Seventeen investigations are currently underway concerning vote‑counting irregularities, most commonly involving the misallocation of votes to the wrong candidate or inconsistencies between the protocol and actual results.
