Commissioner Iwona Kijowska from the Police Headquarters gave PAP that from the beginning of the election silence there were 72 cases of violation, including two crimes. She added that these are mainly online offenses.
On Saturday in the province Świętokrzyski, at the Kielce housing estate of the Ślichowice, an election poster was broken and two others were hanged. – We are conducting proceedings in this matter – told PAP asp. Artur Majchrzak from the Provincial Police Headquarters in Kielce.
The Lublin police also accepted the application on Saturday regarding the removal of the election poster of one of the candidates in the Tomaszów poviat.
In contrast, the Białystok police explain the matter of violation of election silence by presenting electoral materials. On Saturday evening, a spokesman for Podlasie police Tomasz Krupa, a woman came to the police station, who informed that on the street in the city center one of the four men walking in a group of men carried a flag with the name of one of the election committees. He added that the police conduct activities from Article 498 of the Electoral Code, which concerns political agitation during election silence. There is a fine for this.
Among the Saturday offenses there are two committed by MPs. On Saturday morning, on the profile of Deputy Minister of Justice Arkadiusz Myrcha from KO in social media there was a graphics encouraging to vote for the candidate he indicated. “I am sorry, as a result of the graphics' charging error they appeared after midnight. I have already removed. I am sorry for the mistake,” wrote Arkadiusz Myrcha on the portal X.
Post on the election was also published on Saturday morning by MP Piotr Głowski from KO. “The entry about the election of the President of the Republic of Poland, which X published on this page on Saturday, May 17 in the morning – I placed at the same time with a similar one on Facebook – on Friday, May 16 in the evening” – said Głowski on the portal X. “To certainly be sure that someone can interpret it differently, I delete the entry” – he added.
What threatens to break the election silence?
The election silence is violated by every element of active election agitation, i.e. public invelation or encouraging to vote. During the election silence, you must not convene gatherings, organize marches and demonstrations, give speeches or distribute election materials. Encouraging the election does not violate the election silence unless it contains elements of election agitation for one of the candidates.
Posters hung before starting the election silence do not have to be removed. However, you must not drive vehicles covered with electoral posters, but such a vehicle can stand. Also, you can't agate on the Internet.
Agitation in the polling station in which he is located is also forbidden, including on displaying symbols, paintings, signs and inscriptions associated with candidates and election committees. During the election silence it is forbidden to make public results of surveys.
There is a fine for breaking the prohibition of agitation during the election silence. For the publication of surveys during the election silence, the fine is from 500 thousand. PLN up to PLN 1 million. It is both pre -election polls regarding the anticipated voters' behavior, election results and polls conducted on the day of voting.
The State Electoral Commission points out that whether something is a breaking of the prohibition of election agitation can only be decided by law enforcement agencies and courts, and the voter who considers that the election silence has been violated should report it directly to the police.
