Huge emotions, thousands of protests and fierce debate – that is how the weeks after the 2025 presidential election unfolded. Today the Supreme Court officially upheld the validity of the election, closing one of the most turbulent political periods of recent years.
How does the Supreme Court decide on the validity of presidential elections?
The Supreme Court plays a key role in the electoral process. After analysing the report of the National Electoral Commission (PKW) and considering all electoral protests, it is the Court that adopts a resolution on the validity of the election. More than 54 thousand protests concerning this year’s presidential election reached the Supreme Court – a large number, though not as record-breaking as in 1995. Most of these protests were copied from publicly available templates, including the Electoral Protest template of Roman Giertych.
The record for electoral protests in 1995
In the 1995 presidential election, a record number of electoral protests reached the Supreme Court – exactly 593,238 within the statutory deadline. In addition, 25 protests were filed before the deadline and 1,700 after it, bringing the total to over 595 thousand submissions. Most of them concerned the claim that Aleksander Kwaśniewski had provided false information about his higher education.
Course of the session
The session of the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs was open to the public and broadcast online. Representatives of the PKW, the Prosecutor General and the media took part. The final decision was made after several hours of deliberation and a consultation among the judges.
Electoral protests – scale and significance
The 2025 presidential election stirred enormous social emotions. The scale of protests was unprecedented – more than 54 thousand were filed. However, the Supreme Court found only 21 protests justified, and they did not affect the outcome of the election.
The judges stressed that repeating the same allegations does not increase their legal weight.
Most common allegations
- Irregularities in vote counting
- Allegations of improper functioning of electoral commissions
- Requests for a recount of votes in selected constituencies
It is also worth noting that votes were recounted in 13 electoral commissions – irregularities were detected and reported to the PKW, but they did not affect the final result.
Controversies surrounding the Chamber of Extraordinary Control
This year’s election was not only about social emotions but also a legal dispute. Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar challenged the composition of the Chamber of Extraordinary Control, demanding that the case be transferred to another chamber of the Supreme Court. However, the Court left these motions unexamined, citing the applicable regulations.
Election result and public reactions
In the second round of voting on 1 June 2025, Karol Nawrocki (backed by PiS) won, defeating Rafał Trzaskowski (KO) by 50.89% to 49.11%. The margin was over 365 thousand votes, which, given such high turnout, shows how closely contested the presidency battle was.
The Supreme Court’s decision formally closes the electoral process. Karol Nawrocki is recognised as the lawfully elected President of the Republic of Poland. Despite numerous controversies, the Polish legal system proved resilient to social and political pressure.
