Commissioner for Human Rights

Citizens complain they were not given voting cards for the European Parliament elections because they were removed from the Polish electoral roll after being added to the electoral list in another EU country.

It is noteworthy that the degree to which applicants are linked to the EU country in which they are supposed to vote according to the electoral roll varies. In two cases the problem concerned persons with dual nationality. In another case, the applicant stated that he or she had resided in the EU country where he or she could actively vote for only 4 months, and this was more than a decade ago.

Acceptance of a citizen's removal from the electoral roll can only be justified if this is an expression of the will of the citizen concerned. The fact that Poland has no possibility of verifying and, in particular, questioning the data provided by other Member States in this respect makes it necessary to take other measures to ensure that the voter's will as regards the place of voting in the EP can be fully respected. 

In the light of the above, CHR Marcin Wiącek asks the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Digitalisation, Krzysztof Gawkowski, to consider an amendment that would make it mandatory to inform Polish citizens that they have been removed from the electoral roll as a result of receiving information that they have been included on the electoral roll of another EU country. 

In addition, the Commissioner for Human Rights notes with concern that the mObywatel application, for which the Minister of Digitalisation is responsible, provided citizens with incorrect information on the location of polling stations. In most of the cases examined by the CHR, this oversight led to the creation or amplification of the applicants' misconception about the correct polling station. As a result, they were prevented from exercising their active right to vote in the EP. 

https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/pl/content/rpo-pe-wybory-glosowanie-trudnosci-mc