The subject of this article is the legal status of an election commissioner as an authority of election administration. The starting point for further analyses is the reconstruction of the basic aspects of an electoral commissioner’s status. In this respect, it is pointed out, among other things, the consequences of defining him as a “plenipotentiary of the State Electoral Commission” and the necessity to understand this phrase in a non-civilist way. The following part discusses the issue of tasks and competences of election commissioners. The author notes the unconstitutionality of entrusting election commissioners with the creation of polling districts and electoral districts in local government elections. A further subject of analysis is the procedure for appointing election commissioners. The participation of the minister responsible for internal affairs in it is criticised. The author also reflects on issues related to the conditions of performing the function of commissioner, such as remuneration or temporary inability to perform the function. In this respect, among other things, it is pointed out that the election commissioner does not perform his/her function within the framework of an employment relationship, but within the framework of a non-employee employment relationship of a constitutional nature. A separate issue discussed in the article is the question of premature termination of the function of the election commissioner. The author draws attention, inter alia, to the problems related to the legislator’s provision that the function expires by operation of law in the event of the fulfilment of an unspecified condition of carrying out unacceptable activities. It is also emphasised that an electoral commissioner who has been removed from office before the expiry of his or her term of office has the right to lodge a complaint on this matter with the administrative court. The article ends with the most important final conclusions concerning the analysed issues.
Kodeks wyborczy z 2011 r. dokonał istotnej zmiany dotychczasowych reguł przeprowadzania wyborów radnych do rad gmin wprowadzając zasadę, że wybory te w większości gmin w Polsce będą odbywały się w jednomandatowych okręgach wyborczych. Spowodowało to konieczność dokonania nowego podziału poszczególnych gmin na okręgi wyborcze, według zasad ustalonych w Kodeksie i w wytycznych PKW. W procesie tym istotną rolę pełnią komisarze wyborczy, ponieważ ich zadaniem jest sprawowanie nadzoru nad przestrzeganiem prawa wyborczego przez organy jednostek samorządu terytorialnego. Do ich kompetencji należy między innymi rozpatrywanie skarg na uchwałę rady gminy w przedmiocie podziału gminy na okręgi wyborcze oraz wydawanie postanowień zastępujących uchwałę rady gminy w przypadku, gdy organ ten nie wykonał swoich obowiązków w terminie lub w sposób zgodny z prawem. Przyznanie tych kompetencji komisarzom wyborczym budzi jednak wątpliwości odnośnie tego, czy przepisy Kodeksu wyborczego nie są sprzeczne z Konstytucją RP oraz czy nie naruszają uprawnień nadzorczych wojewodów. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest omówienie roli komisarza wyborczego w procesie dokonywania podziału gmin na okręgi wyborcze w wyborach do rad gmin, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem stanowiska Trybunału Konstytucyjnego wyrażonego w uzasadnieniu wyroku w sprawie P 5/14.
EN
The Electoral Code of 2011 made a significant change in the existing rules for the conduct of elections of councilors to municipal councils introducing the principle that these elections in most municipalities in Poland will be held in single-member districts. This has caused the need for a new division of the municipalities into electoral districts, according the rules described in Electoral Code and in the guidelines of National Electoral Commission. The electoral commissioners are important in this process, because their task is to oversee the obey the electoral law by the local authorities. Their powers include i.e. the right to resolve complaints about municipal council resolution concerning the division of the municipality into electoral districts and the right to replace the municipal resolution by their own resolution if the local authority failed to perform its obligations on time or in a manner consistent with the law. The granting of these competencies to the electoral commissioners raises serious doubts as to whether the provisions of Electoral Code are not inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, and does not violate the supervisory powers of voivodes. The goal of this paper is to show the role of electoral commissioner in the process of dividing municipalities into electoral districts for municipality council elections according to Electoral Code, especially according to the line of the Constitutional Court expressed in the justification of the sentence in the case P 5/14.
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