The Election for the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland on 10 May 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic – A Case Study

Citizens’ election rights are among the most important political rights in a democratic state. The SARS-CoV–2 pandemic has brought chaos to countries and thus to their proper functioning. Therefore, the authors of the text, analysing the case of the presidential elections in 2020, put forward the thesis that the provisions regulating the rules of these elections contain significant gaps, which were revealed by the pandemic. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 contains a catalogue of conditions that make it possible to elect a president under an extraordinary procedure. They all relate to a necessity to shorten the president’s term of office. However, no rules consider the likelihood of other obstacles to voting by the deadline, such as a pandemic.