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Presidential elections were held in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
on 28 June 2020. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held on 12 July, in which incumbent president
Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...
, running with the support of
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct s ...
, faced off against
Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It ...
vice-chairman and Mayor of Warsaw
Rafał Trzaskowski Rafał Kazimierz Trzaskowski (; born 17 January 1972) is a Polish politician and the current city mayor of Warsaw. He is also a political scientist specializing in European studies. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (2009–201 ...
. Results from the second round of voting, announced by the National Electoral Commission (PKW) on 13 July, indicated that Andrzej Duda had won with 51.03% compared to Rafał Trzaskowski's 48.97%. The first round of voting was due to be held on 10 May 2020, but was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Poland The COVID-19 pandemic in Poland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). In February and March 2020, health authorities in Poland carried out laborato ...
. On 6 May 2020, the
Agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting ...
party, which was in a governing alliance with the leading
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct s ...
party and was opposed to pursuing the original election date, reached an arrangement to set new dates for the election. The following day, the PKW declared that the election would not be able to take place on 10 May 2020. On 3 June 2020, the
Marshal of the Sejm The Marshal of the Sejm , also known as Sejm Marshal, Chairman of the Sejm or Speaker of the Sejm ( pl, Marszałek Sejmu, ) is the speaker (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th ...
,
Elżbieta Witek Elżbieta Barbara Witek (née Zbanuch; born 17 December 1957, in Jawor) is a Polish politician and former Minister of the Interior and Administration, in office from June 2019 to August 2019, currently serving as the Marshal of the Sejm (). Fir ...
, ordered the first round of the election to be held on 28 June 2020 and scheduled the second round on 12 July 2020. According to the
OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
's
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the " human dimension" of security. The Office, originally named Office for ...
, the public broadcaster TVP "failed in its legal duty to provide balanced and impartial coverage" and "acted as a campaign vehicle for the incumbent".


Electoral system

The President of Poland is directly elected using a
two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...
for a five-year term, with a two-term limit.
Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...
's first term expired on 6 August 2020 when he reaffirmed his oath of office before the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
, a joint session of the
Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...
and
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
and began his second term. Pursuant to the provisions of the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
, the president must be elected by an absolute majority of valid votes. If no candidate succeeds in passing this threshold in the first round, a second round of voting is held with the two candidates who received the largest shares of the vote. In order to be registered to contest the election, a candidate must be a Polish citizen, be at least 35 years old on the day of the first round of the election, and have collected at least 100,000 voters' signatures by 10 June 2020 at midnight. Polls opened on election day at 07:00 CEST and closed at 21:00 CEST ( UTC+2).


COVID-19, election timing, and controversy

The election was originally scheduled for 10 May 2020, which caused extreme political controversy related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many candidates, constitutionalists, and even politicians from the ruling coalition criticized the government's plan of holding the election as originally scheduled during the pandemic. As a compromise, the
Agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting ...
political party proposed lengthening the president's term by two years, which was supported by the
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...
, Łukasz Szumowski. This was rejected by the opposition. The main opposition party,
Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It ...
, wanted the election to be held in May 2021. The ruling conservative party
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct s ...
also wished to change the electoral rules and to organize the election by postal voting only. Changing election rules less than six months prior to voting was ruled to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Tribunal in 2011. Voting only by post is considered unconstitutional by some including Polish
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in a non-binding opinion.


Email requests by Poczta Polska for private data

At 02:26 early in the morning on 23 April, every Polish mayor and city council president received an anonymous, unsigned e-mail from
Poczta Polska Poczta Polska ( lit. ''Polish Post'') is the state postal administration of Poland, initially founded in 1558. It is the largest mail-handling company in the country, which additionally provides courier, banking, insurance and logistics serv ...
(Polish Post) saying that they were required to deliver the private data of 30 million Polish citizens including their PESEL (national identification number), date of birth, address, and other private data in a
.txt A text file (sometimes spelled textfile; an old alternative name is flatfile) is a kind of computer file that is structured as a sequence of lines of electronic text. A text file exists stored as data within a computer file system. In operat ...
file format lacking any passwords or security. Many Polish mayors and city council presidents, lawyers, and other citizens criticized the order to provide such private data, stating that the order violated the
GDPR The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union regulation on data protection and privacy in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA). The GDPR is an important component of EU privacy law and of human rights law, in parti ...
and Polish Law, since the legal act referred to in the email had no legal validity; it concerned a bill that was still undergoing legislative procedures. Citizens and other officials stated their intention to file a lawsuit to the prosecutor's office about the possibility of crimes being committed by the government-run Poczta Polska and by the politicians responsible for the regulation.


Electoral cards leakage

On 29 April 2020, 11 days before the planned election date, election candidate Stanisław Żółtek presented a copy of an electoral ballot at a press conference. The copies contained the names of all the candidates and other forms to be filled by voters. Żółtek said that he received the ballots from workers of one of the companies that was printing and preparing electoral documents. Poczta Polska notified the Internal Security Agency about the leak. As of 2 May 2020, Polish law did not authorise Poczta Polska to organise postal voting except in a small number of special cases.


Presidential election boycott

On 30 April 2020, three former Polish presidents and six
prime ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...
called for a boycott of 2020 presidential election, on the grounds that the election would be unconstitutional and could not guarantee the confidentiality of voters.


Election day change

On 6 May,
Jarosław Gowin Jarosław Adam Gowin (born 4 December 1961) is a Polish conservative politician and editor. Gowin served as Minister of Justice in the cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk between 2011 and 2013, and as Minister of Science and Higher Education i ...
, the leader of Agreement, and
Jarosław Kaczyński Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician who is currently serving as leader of the Law and Justice party (known by its Polish acronym PiS), which he co-founded in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, ...
, the leader of Law and Justice struck an agreement to move the election. The two parties had earlier been engaged in a political struggle over whether the election should proceed in May. On 7 May, the Sejm approved legislation for the election to be held via postal ballot. The same day, PKW announced that "The current legal regulation deprived the National Electoral Commission of the instruments necessary to perform its duties. In connection with the above, the National Electoral Commission informs voters, election committees, candidates, election administration and local government units that voting on 10 May 2020 cannot take place." The movement of the election day was met with support and opposition from both the "anti" and "pro" Law and Justice spheres of Polish politics. An opinion poll for Rzeczpospolita gauged public support for the Gowin-Kaczyński agreement at 43.5%, with 36.3% being against, and the rest undecided.


Judgment of WSA court

On 15 September 2020, the
Voivodship Administrative Court A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieva ...
in Warsaw judged that the decision of Prime Minister
Mateusz Morawiecki Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki (; born 20 June 1968) is a Polish economist, historian and politician who has served as prime minister of Poland since 2017. A member of Law and Justice (PiS), he previously served in the cabinet of prime minister Beata ...
to hold the May elections exclusively through mail-in voting was " gross violation of the law and was issued without
egal Egal or Égal may refer to: People * Ali Sugule Egal (1936–2016), Somali composer, poet and playwright * Fabienne Égal (born 1954), French announcer and television host * Liban Abdi Egal, Somali entrepreneur * Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal (1928– ...
grounds" and violated article 7 of the Polish Constitution, article 157, paragraph 1 and article 187, paragraph 1 and 2 of the Electoral Code. The opposition demanded Morawiecki's resignation.


Candidate selection

The following candidates had been nominated by parties represented in the
Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...
.


Law and Justice / United Right

Incumbent President
Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...
was eligible to run for a second term. On 24 October 2019, in an open letter to the elected members of the Sejm and Senate, PiS chairman
Jarosław Kaczyński Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician who is currently serving as leader of the Law and Justice party (known by its Polish acronym PiS), which he co-founded in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, ...
announced that the party will strongly support Andrzej Duda in next year's presidential election. In the first round he won a plurality of 43.5% and went on to face challenger
Rafał Trzaskowski Rafał Kazimierz Trzaskowski (; born 17 January 1972) is a Polish politician and the current city mayor of Warsaw. He is also a political scientist specializing in European studies. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (2009–201 ...
in the second round in which he won re-election with 51.03% of the vote. Nominee:


Civic Platform / Civic Coalition

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...
was widely expected to make a comeback in Polish politics and to run for President, all the more so given that his European office expired at the end of 2019. However, in November 2019, he announced he would not run for the Polish Presidency, citing that he has "a bag of difficult, unpopular decisions since prime minister" that would burden his candidacy. He is said to have been advised against a run by private opinion polls. He decided to run instead for the leadership of the
European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily ...
. As a result, party leader
Grzegorz Schetyna Grzegorz Juliusz Schetyna () (born 18 February 1963) is a Polish politician who has been Leader of Civic Platform and Leader of the Opposition from 26 January 2016 to 25 January 2020. He has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland from ...
decided to hold a convention in order to nominate a candidate for president. The
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...
was won by
Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska Małgorzata Maria Kidawa-Błońska, née Grabska (born 5 May 1957) is a Polish politician, lawyer, film producer, and sociologist. She was Marshal of the Sejm from 25 June 2015 to 11 November 2015 at the end of the Seventh term's composition of ...
. Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska resigned her candidacy on 15 May 2020 under pressure of falling poll numbers and her own party. After this,
Rafał Trzaskowski Rafał Kazimierz Trzaskowski (; born 17 January 1972) is a Polish politician and the current city mayor of Warsaw. He is also a political scientist specializing in European studies. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (2009–201 ...
became the new candidate of the Civic Coalition. He managed to receive over 1.6 million signatures, securing his eligibility to run in the election. After receiving 30.46% of the vote in the first round he was defeated by the incumbent Andrzej Duda in the second round, winning 48.97% of the vote. Nominee:


Ran, but withdrew before the election

*
Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska Małgorzata Maria Kidawa-Błońska, née Grabska (born 5 May 1957) is a Polish politician, lawyer, film producer, and sociologist. She was Marshal of the Sejm from 25 June 2015 to 11 November 2015 at the end of the Seventh term's composition of ...
Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Declared, but lost at the primary convention: *
Jacek Jaśkowiak Jacek Jaśkowiak (born 10 March 1964) is a Polish politician and entrepreneur. He is the current mayor of the city of Poznań, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, and a member of the Civic Platform political party. Life and education He graduat ...
– Mayor of
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
. Declined: *
Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...
President of the European Council The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as ...
, former
Prime Minister of Poland The President of the Council of Ministers ( pl, Prezes Rady Ministrów, lit=Chairman of the Council of Ministers), colloquially referred to as the prime minister (), is the head of the cabinet and the head of government of Poland. The responsibi ...
, and a candidate in
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
. *
Radosław Sikorski Radosław Tomasz "Radek" Sikorski (; born 23 February 1963) is a Polish politician and journalist who is a Member of the European Parliament. He was Marshal of the Sejm from 2014 to 2015 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Donald Tusk's cabinet ...
– Former
Marshal of the Sejm The Marshal of the Sejm , also known as Sejm Marshal, Chairman of the Sejm or Speaker of the Sejm ( pl, Marszałek Sejmu, ) is the speaker (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th ...
, former
Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
, and a candidate in primary in
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. Later expressed interest to run after Kidawa-Błońska resigned, but was not considered by party leadership, which claimed to have chosen Trzaskowski 'unanimously'. * Bartosz Arłukowicz – Former
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...
. * Tomasz GrodzkiMarshal of the Senate of Poland.


Polish Coalition

In December 2019, PSL chairman Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that he would be launching a campaign for president. Declined * Paweł Kukiz – Leader of
Kukiz'15 Kukiz'15 is a right-wing populist political party in Poland led by Paweł Kukiz. It was formed in 2015 as a loose movement that registered itself as an association in 2016 and later as a political party in 2020. Initially, it was connected wit ...
, MP, and candidate in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
.


The Left

At the beginning of January 2020,
Włodzimierz Czarzasty Włodzimierz Czarzasty (born 3 May 1960) is a Polish politician who serves as the co-chairperson of the New Left party (). Biography Born in Warsaw, Poland, Czarzasty graduated with degrees in journalism and political science from the Universit ...
said that The Left would nominate
Robert Biedroń Robert Biedroń (; born 13 April 1976) is a Polish politician, former mayor of Słupsk, and LGBT activist who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. Biedroń was a member of the Sejm during its 7th session (2011� ...
. Declined *
Adrian Zandberg Adrian Tadeusz Zandberg (born 4 December 1979 in Aalborg) is a Poles, Polish historian and computer programmer, doctor of humanities and left-wing politician, serving as one of the co-leaders of Left Together, Razem (''Together''). Life His paren ...
MP, co-leader of
Lewica Razem Left Together () is a left-wing political party in Poland. It was formed in 2015 as "Together", and it was one of the eight nationwide committees standing in the 2015 parliamentary election. It was a member of the Progressive International, ...
, and co-chairman of The Left.


Confederation Liberty and Independence

The party held an
open primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
, a first in Polish politics. The 2019–20 Confederation presidential primary was modeled after the primary voting model common in the United States. Krzysztof Bosak was nominated during the final round of voting held at the convention in Warsaw on 18 January. Nominee: Declared, but lost in the primary election: *
Konrad Berkowicz Konrad Berkowicz (born 27 May 1984 in Kraków) is a Polish politician and computer scientist. He has been a vice-chairman of KORWiN since 2015. He is a deputy in the Sejm since 2019. In 2019, he was elected to the Sejm, starting from the Confed ...
MP, and vice-chairman of KORWiN. * Grzegorz BraunMP, and chairman of KKP. * Artur DziamborMP, and vice-chairman of KORWiN. *
Janusz Korwin-Mikke Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke (; born 27 October 1942), also known by his initials JKM or simply as Korwin, is a Polish far-right politician, paleolibertarian and author. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2014 until 2018. He was the ...
MP, and chairman of KORWiN. * Paweł Skutecki – Former MP from
Kukiz'15 Kukiz'15 is a right-wing populist political party in Poland led by Paweł Kukiz. It was formed in 2015 as a loose movement that registered itself as an association in 2016 and later as a political party in 2020. Initially, it was connected wit ...
. * Krzysztof Tołwiński – Former MP from
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct s ...
. * Jacek Wilk – Former MP from KORWiN. *Magdalena Ziętek-Wielomska – Lawyer, philosopher, publicist and author, wife of
Adam Wielomski Adam Wielomski (born 1972) is a professor at the University of Natural Sciences and Humanities in Siedlce, where he teaches in the Institute of Social Sciences and Security of the Faculty of Humanities. Wielomski is the author and co-author of se ...
.


Other candidates

These are candidates who collected the necessary 100,000 signatures supporting their candidacy to run, but were not supported by parties in the
Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...
: File:Szymon.Hołownia.JPG, Television personality
Szymon Hołownia Szymon Franciszek Hołownia (born 3 September 1976) is a Polish journalist, politician, television personality, writer, political commentator and humanitarian activist. From 2008 to 2019 he co-hosted ''Mam talent!'', the Polish version of ''Got T ...
(Independent) File:Marek Jakubiak Sejm 2016.JPG, Former MP
Marek Jakubiak Marek Jakubiak (born 30 April 1959 in Warsaw) is a Polish politician and brewer. He was a member of the Sejm from 2015 to 2019 and a candidate for President in 2020. In 2015, he was elected to the Sejm, starting from the Kukiz'15 Kukiz'15 i ...
(Federation for the Republic) File:Mirosław Piotrowski (Martin Rulsch) 1.jpg, Former MEP Mirosław Piotrowski (Real Europe Movement) File:Paweł.Tanajno.JPG, Entrepreneur
Paweł Tanajno Paweł Jan Tanajno (born December 19, 1975) is a Polish entrepreneur and politician. He studied law at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and holds a degree in marketing. From 1995 to 2004 he ran a computer company Sferis. He was also a me ...
(Independent) File:Waldemar Witkowski Sejm 09 (cropped).JPG, Former Deputy Voivode Waldemar Witkowski (
Labour Union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...
) File:Stanisław Żółtek.JPG, Former MEP Stanisław Żółtek ( Congress of the New Right – PolEXIT)


Rejected candidates

These following candidates made electoral comitties but failed to submit 100,000 signatures supporting their run by the 26 March deadline: *Piotr Bakun – Economist *Marcin Bugajski – Political scientist *Roland Dubowski – President of the Association of Heirs of Polish War Veterans of the Second World War *Artur Głowacki – Businessman *Sławomir Grzywa – Leader of "Sami Swoi" ("All Good Friends") *Wiesław Lewicki – Chairman of "Normalny Kraj" ("Normal Country") *Andrzej Dariusz Placzyński – Businessman *
Leszek Samborski Leszek Samborski (born 19 May 1955 in Dębica) - is a Polish politician, formerly a member of Real Politics Union and now Civic Platform and Sejm deputy (June 2004 - 2005). References

Civic Platform politicians 1955 births Living people Pe ...
– Former Member of the Sejm *Grzegorz Sowa – Businessman associated with 1Polska.pl *Romuald Starosielec – Journalist supported by "Unity of the Nation" *Paweł Świtoń – Businessman *Krzysztof Urbanowicz – Political activist *Andrzej Voigt – Businessman *Jerzy Walkowiak – Political activist


First round political debates

*
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
– 15 June 2020 ''(cancelled)'' *
TVP Info TVP Info is a Polish free-to-air television news channel, run by the public broadcaster, state media TVP. It is focused on newscasts, airing nationwide news bulletins from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Its main offices are located at the TVP ...
– 17 June 2020, 21:00; moderated by Michał Adamczyk. *
TVN24 TVN24 is a Polish 24-hour commercial news channel, launched on 9 August 2001. Being a part of the TVN Network, TVN24 has been owned since July 2017 by US-based media company Warner Bros. Discovery. It gained broader popularity after the Sept ...
– 19 June 2020 ''(cancelled)'' * Polsat News – 22 June 2020 ''(cancelled)'' *
Onet Onet.pl is one of the largest Polish web portals. It is owned by the Kraków-based Grupa Onet.pl S.A. It was founded in 1996 by Optimus company. According to Alexa rankings, as of October 2017, it was the 45th most popular website worldwide ...
– 24 June 2020 ''(cancelled)''


Second round political debates

Duda and Trzaskowski both refused to take part in debates at each other's preferred media outlet and a proposal from Duda and supported by Trzaskowski to hold a joint debate hosted by TVP, Polsat and TVN was rejected by TVP Director
Jacek Kurski Jacek Olgierd Kurski (, born 22 February 1966 in Gdańsk) is a Polish politician and journalist, and the current chairman of the Polish public broadcaster TVP. He was previously a Member of the Sejm (2005–2009), Member of the European Parlia ...
. * TVN,
TVN24 TVN24 is a Polish 24-hour commercial news channel, launched on 9 August 2001. Being a part of the TVN Network, TVN24 has been owned since July 2017 by US-based media company Warner Bros. Discovery. It gained broader popularity after the Sept ...
,
Onet Onet.pl is one of the largest Polish web portals. It is owned by the Kraków-based Grupa Onet.pl S.A. It was founded in 1996 by Optimus company. According to Alexa rankings, as of October 2017, it was the 45th most popular website worldwide ...
and WP joint debate – 19:25 ''(UTC+2)'', 2 July 2020 (''cancelled by Duda's withdrawal'') *TVP Townhall debate - 21:00 (''UTC+2''), 6 July 2020 (''only Duda appeared'') *Joint debate with more than 15 newsrooms, organized by Trzaskowski staff, announced the day before – 20:30 ''(UTC+2)'', 6 July 2020 (''only Trzaskowski appeared'')


Opinion polls


First round


Second round


Results

As there was no outright winner in the first round, the top two candidates - Andrzej Duda and Rafał Trzaskowski - advanced to the second round. Szymon Hołownia and Krzysztof Bosak placed third and fourth respectively. Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Robert Biedroń both underperformed expectations taking the fifth and sixth place. In the second round, there was a close race between Duda and Trzaskowski. Duda had a slight lead in 9:00 pm exit polls which gave him 50.4% of the vote to Trzaskowski's 49.6%. This was within the 2% margin of error leading to the pollster
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announcing the race to be too close to call. Duda's vote share eventually amounted to 51.03%, securing his reelection.


Reactions

After voting had ended, Andrzej Duda invited Rafał Trzaskowski to the Presidential Palace to "shake hands" and "end the campaign". Trzaskowski rejected and said that they could meet after announcing the official election results. The next day, Trzaskowski congratulated Duda on his victory.
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congratulated Duda on his victory. Observers viewed the election results as illustrating a divided Polish society. They also predicted that PiS would continue pursuing its policies in a number of areas and clashing with the EU. Duda performed strongest among older, rural, and eastern voters.


Elections challenged

The Civic Platform party challenged results of the elections to the Polish Supreme Court, alleging irregularities and biased coverage by the state television. The appeal includes complaints from 2,000 people, containing accusations of problems with voter registry, ballot papers not being sent in time as well as issues with voting abroad. The TVP public broadcaster did not broadcast a single meeting of Trzaskowski with voters. Press.pl, a media-monitoring service, found that, between 3 and 16 June, nearly 97% of Wiadomości news stories devoted to Duda were positive while almost 87% of those on Trzaskowski were negative. The Supreme Court ruled the election valid, stating that doubts about the television's honesty notwithstanding, TVP was not the only media source available for voters, and that voters were free to choose what media to watch.


Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights report

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investigated the election and found that it was "administered professionally despite the lack of legal clarity." The ODIHR also reported that the presidential campaign "was characterized by negative and intolerant rhetoric further polarizing an already adversarial political environment. ..the TVP ublic broadcasterfailed in its legal duty to provide balanced and impartial coverage. Instead, it acted as a campaign vehicle for the incumbent and frequently portrayed his main challenger as a threat to Polish values and national interests. Some of the reporting was charged with xenophobic and anti-Semitic undertones."


Notes


References


External links

* {{Authority control Presidential
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President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Presidential elections in Poland