ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER THE PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT THE SEAT OF THE NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (NEC) IN WARSAW

 

 

On 23 October 2005, at 12.10 a.m. a press conference on the second round of voting in the Elections for the President of the Republic of Poland was held at the seat of the National Electoral Commission in Warsaw at. Ul. Wiejska.

The following participated in the conference:

 

            Chairman of NEC                                Judge Ferdynand Rymarz

 

            Deputy Chairman                                 Judge Stanisław Kosmal

 

            Members                                            Judge Stefan Jaworski

                                                                      Judge Andrzej Mączyński              

                                                                      Judge Włodzimierz Ryms

                                                                      Judge Stanisław Zabłocki

                                                                      

                                                          

 

            Secretary of NEC

Head of the National Electoral Office

                                                                       Minister Kazimierz Wojciech Czaplicki

 

 

The Conference was chaired by the NEC’s Chairman, Judge Ferdynand Rymarz,

who presented the information on the turnout and the course of the elections as at 10.30

 

announcement of the national electoral commission (nec)
of 23 October 2005

On the number of registered electors and the number of electors to whom ballot cards were issued by 10.30 a.m. in the second round of the Elections for the President of the Republic of Poland written for 23 October 2005.

I. Collective nationwide information

On the basis of data provided by 24 996 local electoral commissions out of the total 25 000 local electoral commissions established nationwide (i.e. excluding the precincts established abroad and on the Polish ships), the National Electoral Commission provides the information as below representing the status as at 10.30 a.m. on 23 October 2005:

1. Number of eligible electors, i.e. the number of electors registered in the precincts which provided the data, was 29 994 348.

2. Ballot cards were issued to 2 568 475 eligible electors which constitutes 8.56% of the total number of eligible electors.

II. Collective information broken into the provinces:

 

III. Collective information broken into the cities with the population over 250 thousand

 

 

IV. In comparison with the total number of the eligible voters, the highest turnout has been noted in the administrative district of Korzenna, Małopolskie Province, i.e. 28.53%

Chairman
of the National Electoral Commission

Ferdynand Rymarz

 

 

In connection with a resolution adopted by the Local Electoral Commission no. 39 in Legnica to extend the voting time until 8.25 p.m., NEC, in reference to its earlier position, confirms that under the present actual situation, the election silence prevailing on the election day PKW has been also extended by 25 minutes. It means that until 8.25 p.m. any agitation and publishing of the exit polls in particular, is prohibited by the law. Art.76 b section 2 provides in a clear and decisive manner that “The election campaign may not be carried our [...] on the election day until the elections have been concluded”. In this particular case the entire country constitutes a huge constituency.

     NEC has acknowledged the difficult situation of these TV and radio stations which broadcast the live election programs and which intended to publicly announce the first results of the exit polls at 8.00 p.m., however, it is also obliged to comply with the election laws and procedures. Therefore, we have two colliding values one of them being public anticipation of the information which will only be delayed by 25 minutes, the other one being the great value of having effect on the results of the elections. Each elector and each vote cast has an effect of the Presidential election. The importance of the elections in which there are only two candidates running for the supreme office in the state makes us take this and no other stand in this matter.

    In the first round of the elections, in one of the precincts, the election time was also extended by one hour. However, that actual situation was substantially different as the votes were cast on 12 candidates. Therefore, there was no need to be concerned that publishing the exit polls in the a live election program could have had a substantial effect on the electors’ behavior, nonetheless, there were numerous phone calls and elector interventions addressed to NEC that it is not appropriate to tolerate a situation where as the elections still continue in some parts of the country, some TV stations are publishing exit polls.

This time, as the NEC’s Chairman emphasized, each elector should be given an opportunity to have an influence on the Presidential election and since the local electoral commission decided to extend the election time, the legal consequence of his decision is the extended time of the elections. Different decision would lay the grounds for an objection.

     Judge Ferdynand Rymarz confirmed the information that neither of commissions in Kraków, where short break in the voting took place, resolved to extend the time of the voting which means that the voting at these rolling stations will be concluded at 8.00 p.m.