As is usual before an election, election posters appear on the streets of Polish cities. The large number of posters creates visual chaos, as well as large-format billboards with politicians’ faces peeking out at us from posters usually displayed on cardboard stands, on city poles or street lamps. What will the campaign look like in cities with landscape resolutions?
Landscape resolutions are already in force in many cities in Poland. These include Gdańsk, Krakow, Gdynia and Poznań. This is a document adopted by city councillors, which provides a real tool to combat illegal advertising and allows public space to be put in order. However, we have bad news for the residents of cities where such regulations are in force
It turns out that landscape resolutions, as acts of local law, cannot regulate the issue of placing advertisements of candidates for deputies and senators. The rules for placing election posters are regulated by the Election Code, which has greater legal force
In the hierarchy of legal acts, the Election Code stands above the provisions of the local law act, such as the Landscape Resolution, and therefore it cannot prohibit or restrict the display of posters by election committees, says Piotr Sobczak, Director of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture at the Poznań City Hall
Election posters may be hung, among other things, on the walls of buildings, lamp posts or fences, but only after obtaining permission from the owner of the object. Importantly, the Election Code requires posters to be removed within 30 days of the end of the election. Election posters may not be placed in the premises of election commissions and on the walls of the buildings where these commissions are located. Agitation may also not be carried out on the premises of offices, schools and military units
In an attempt to tame the chaos of election posters, the city of Poznań has for several years now designated special zones where posters may be displayed. These are special stands of uniform size on which election committees can place their posters. A total of several dozen advertising boards and poles have been set up in various districts in Poznań. The committees can use them free of charge
We will soon find out whether election posters from Polish towns and villages will disappear within the legally required 30-day period
source: Municipalityof Poznań
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