Poland adopts postal vote rule for quarantined, elderly

WARSAW: Poland on Saturday adopted rules allowing people over 60, in quarantine or self-isolation to vote via postal ballot, as controversy rages over government plans to hold a presidential election despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government came under heavy pressure this week over its decision to maintain the May 10 election as an opinion poll showed that 72 percent of respondents wanted the ballot postponed.

Opposition parties argue that asking citizens to visit polling stations would violate mandatory social distancing measures, exposing millions to potentially deadly infection.

Dominated by the PiS, parliament adopted the changes to the electoral law in a pre-dawn vote on Saturday.

Critics claim the new measures violate Constitutional Court rulings stating that changes to the election code must be adopted at least six months before voting day.

“Law and Justice party is breaking the rules of parliament to change the #Election Code under the cover of night!” left-wing MP Krzysztof Gawkowski tweeted at 2.00 am.

The PiS-backed changes allow postal ballots for voters “who are 60 years of age” or “subject to compulsory quarantine, isolation or isolation at home on election day”.

While the Senate, where the opposition has a majority, could reject the measures within the next 30 days, the PiS-dominated lower house would likely adopt them again before sending them for final approval to incumbent President Andrzej Duda.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and powerful PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a close ally of Duda, the current frontrunner, have said they see no reason to postpone the election.

Meanwhile, former liberal Polish Prime Minister and ex-EU President Donald Tusk, now the leader of the European People´s Party (EPP), said in an interview that “only a fool or a criminal” would propose that people go vote in May.

An EU member of 38 million people, Poland has recorded more than 1400 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 16 deaths.

It shut borders and schools earlier this month and has since limited public gatherings to two people and restricted freedom of movement in line with EU-wide measures to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Since taking office in 2015, the PiS has pushed through a slew of controversial judicial reforms that it insists are designed to tackle corruption.

But critics, including the European Commission and European judicial bodies, argue they threaten judicial independence and the rule of law.