Krakow holds snap mayoral election following Miszalski recall as voter faces charges for torn ballot

Polling station incident on Wola Justowska

Police in Krakow intervened during Sunday voting after an elderly resident destroyed his ballot paper inside a polling station located in the Wola Justowska neighbourhood. According to Commissioner Piotr Szpiech, spokesperson for the Krakow Municipal Police Headquarters, the voter collected his ballot from precinct officials, tore it into pieces, and threw the fragments into a waste bin. Police officers were summoned to the station and identified the man involved in the destruction. Szpiech noted that under Polish law, destroying an official election document constitutes a criminal offense punishable by up to three years of imprisonment.

Krzysztof Dyl, head of the Municipal Electoral Commission in Krakow, confirmed that election supervisors were immediately informed of the incident. Dyl reiterated that electoral regulations strictly entitle each voter to receive only a single ballot paper. Under these rules, any voter who makes an error while filling out the form or intentionally destroys the issued sheet is not permitted to receive a replacement ballot, leaving them unable to cast a vote in the election.

Precinct procedures and candidate adjustments

Voting commenced at 07:00 on Sunday across 454 electoral precincts located throughout Krakow, with voting stations remaining open to residents until 21:00. The printed ballot paper presented eight candidate names arranged in alphabetical order, requiring voters to place an "x" mark next to their chosen candidate. Specialized informational notices were displayed in polling stations across the city to address the status of candidate Jan Hoffman, who officially withdrew from the mayoral race prior to election day.

The commission established specific rules regarding ballots marked for the withdrawn candidate. A ballot marked with an "x" only next to Jan Hoffman was deemed completely invalid by precinct counters. However, if a resident marked an "x" next to Hoffman and also placed an "x" next to an active candidate, election officials counted the ballot as a valid vote for the active contender. Aside from the Wola Justowska incident and a single early report of an election silence violation involving a campaigning post published on social media, voting proceeded smoothly across the city, with police reporting no further violations up to 17:00.

Referendum background and vote counting timeline

The snap mayoral election took place following a local referendum in May 2026 that recalled Aleksander Miszalski of the Civic Coalition from the office of city president. Following the mayoral recall, Stanisław Kracik, who previously served as Miszalski's deputy, was appointed to manage municipal operations until a newly elected mayor takes office.

Precinct electoral commissions concluded voting at 21:00 and began transferring official vote tally protocols to the Municipal Electoral Commission at approximately 22:00 on Sunday evening. Dyl estimated that the verified final election results would be completed between 03:00 and 04:00 on Monday morning. Once certified, election officials will post the official results directly on the doors of the Krakow municipal magistrate building. If none of the candidates achieves more than 50% of the valid votes cast, the mayoral contest will proceed to a second-round runoff on 11 October 2026.