Presidential election in Poland in 1990

‹• • 1995 ›
Presidential election in Poland
November 25, 1990 (first ballot)
December 9, 1990 (second ballot)

	independent
	Lech Wałęsa
	be right	10,622,696
		74.25%

	independent
	Stanisław Tymiński
	be right	3,683,098
		25.75%
Election results by voivodeship

President of the Third Polish Republic
Before the election Wojciech Jaruzelski PZPR Elected Lech Wałęsa without party

The 1990 presidential election in Poland took place on November 25 and December 9, 1990 and was the first popular election for the Polish head of state. In the runoff election , the trade union leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa was elected President of the Republic of Poland for a five-year term .

background

A constitutional amendment of September 27, 1990 introduced a popular election for the office of president and at the same time shortened the term of office of incumbent President Wojciech Jaruzelskidecided. All citizens entitled to vote in the parliamentary elections were given the active right to vote, and those who had also reached the age of 35 by the day of the election were given the passive right to vote. The nominations had to show the written support of at least one hundred thousand eligible citizens. If no candidate has the necessary majority of over 50% of the votes cast on the first election day, a second election round will be called, which will take place two weeks after the first election day. The two candidates who received the most votes in the first round of voting ( runoff ) are allowed to participate. The determination of the validity of the election and the swearing-in of the president was the responsibility of theNational Assembly .

The vote

Candidates

Roman Bartoszcze
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz
Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Leszek Moczulski
Stan Tymiński
Lech Wałęsa

The following candidates were able to show 100,000 signatures of the eligible voters within the set deadline and were allowed to participate in the first round of voting after verification by the election committee:

Roman Bartoszcze (1946–2015) - farmer, member of the Sejm (since 1989), chairman of the Polish Farmers' Party , former activist of the Farmers Solidarity and opposition activist
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (* 1950) - doctor of law, university professor, independent member of the Sejm (since 1989), former member of the PVAP , supported by the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland
Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927–2013) - journalist and publisher, incumbent Prime Minister , member of the Sejm (since 1989 and already 1961–1972), activist of the “Solidarność” trade union and former opposition activist, former member of the Catholic block party “ Znak ”
Robert Leszek Moczulski (* 1930) - lawyer, historian and journalist, former nationalist oppositionist ( Confederation of Independent Poland ), member of the PVAP 1949–1950
Stanisław "Stan" Tymiński (* 1948) - a qualified electrical engineer, businessman
Lech Wałęsa (* 1943) - electrician, chairman of the “Solidarność” trade union and opposition activist , Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1983), supported by the Center Alliance

Another candidate submitted the signatures on time, but was excluded from the election after the examination because the documents had formal deficiencies:

Kornel Morawiecki (1941–2019) - doctorate in physics, university professor, former leader of the conspiratorial " Combat Solidarity " (1982–1985)

The vote

Ballot	candidate	Number of votes	% of valid votes	Supporting party
1st ballot, November 25, 1990	Roman Bartoszcze	1 176 175	7.15%	PSL
	Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz	1 514 025	9.21%	SdRP
	Tadeusz Mazowiecki	2 973 364	18.08%	ROAD
	Robert Leszek Moczulski	411 516	2.50%	KPN
	Stanisław Tymiński	3 797 605	23.10%
	Lech Wałęsa	6 569 889	39.96%	Pc
	Invalid votes	259 526
Since none of the candidates achieved the required majority, the 2nd ballot was decreed for December 9, 1990, to which Stanisław Tymiński and Lech Wałęsa were allowed.
2nd ballot, December 9, 1990	Stanisław Tymiński	3 683 098	25.75%
	Lech Wałęsa	10 622 696	74.25%	PC, PSL, ROAD, KPN
	Invalid votes	344 243
Lech Wałęsa was thus elected President of the Republic of Poland .

After the election

On December 22, 1990, the National Assembly approved the election. Wałęsa took his oath of office and supplemented it with a religious affirmation that was actually not provided for in the formula of the oath.

Footnotes

↑ Ustawa z dnia 27 września 1990 r. o zmianie Konstytucji Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. October 2, 1990, accessed December 19, 2012 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 26 listopada 1990 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, zarządzonych na dzień 25 listopada 1990 r. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. November 30, 1990. Retrieved December 19, 2012 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 10 grudnia 1990 r. o wynikach ponownego głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. December 10, 1990, accessed December 19, 2012 .
↑ Uchwała Zgromadzenia Narodowego z dnia 22 grudnia 1990 r. w sprawie stwierdzenia ważności wyboru Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. In: Monitor Polski, sejm.gov.pl. December 22, 1990. Retrieved December 19, 2012 .

[Verf-1990-09-27-1] Ustawa z dnia 27 września 1990 r. o zmianie Konstytucji Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. October 2, 1990, accessed December 19, 2012 .

[Wahlergebnis1-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 26 listopada 1990 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, zarządzonych na dzień 25 listopada 1990 r. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. November 30, 1990. Retrieved December 19, 2012 .

[Wahlergebnis2-3] Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 10 grudnia 1990 r. o wynikach ponownego głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. December 10, 1990, accessed December 19, 2012 .

[NV-1990-12-22-4] Uchwała Zgromadzenia Narodowego z dnia 22 grudnia 1990 r. w sprawie stwierdzenia ważności wyboru Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. In: Monitor Polski, sejm.gov.pl. December 22, 1990. Retrieved December 19, 2012 .