Polish presidential election chaos update: the Association of Polish Cities has rejected a request by the Polish postal services to provide urns for the postal 'election' PiS is trying to push through on May 10th, on the grounds that "on May 10th there are elections scheduled." https://twitter.com/RMF24pl/status/1253321852916649985

PiS is essentially trying to organise the postal election before there is a legal basis for doing so, in the expectation that they will be able to pass the recent amendments into law as soon as the bill comes back from the Senate. However, this is going to depend on local

authorities consenting to illegal acts, such as the passing of personal data (addresses and identifying data from the electoral roll) to the postal service, which has been charged with organising the election (which is usually organised by the Polish Electoral Commission).

Given that the law as it stands provides no basis for the requests being made by the postal services, the local authorities are perfectly well within their rights to refuse, and citizens are perfectly well within their rights to insist their data is protected.

Another problem is that Poles will shortly be receiving ballot cards that at the time of their issuance do not pertain to any election defined in law. The relevant law introducing postal elections may be passed as late as the 7th of May, *three* days before the first round of the

presidential elections. Citizens mindful of the fact that they have been issued with a ballot paper for an election that was non-existent at the time of its issuing would be within their rights to ask for a legally-issued ballot paper, which the authorities will then have three

days to deliver. Good luck with that! The whole thing is shaping up to be a complete legal mess, which given that PiS has spent five years governing by faits accompli, I suspect is entirely deliberate.

If I were a Polish citizen, I would (a) return my 'ballot paper' to sender by recorded delivery, (b) when the new law enters into force, demand a legal ballot paper, and (c) when it is not forthcoming, lodge a complaint that I have been deprived of my voting rights.