Elections in Poland

Elections in Poland are currently electing the President (presidential elections), the members of the Sejm and Senators (parliamentary elections), the members of the European Parliament (European elections), as well as the voivodship days , district councils and municipalities as well as the election of the president or the mayor of the cities and the bailiffs (Polish: Wójty ; local elections).

The State Election Commission (Polish: Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza ) together with its executive body, the State Election Office (Polish: Krajowe Biuro Wyborcze ) is responsible for organizing and conducting the elections .

First republic

Elections in Poland can look back on a long tradition, starting (Polish: the first general Sejm Sejm walny ) in the year 1493 , of the representative of the Landsejmiken elected nobility was. The Sejm was convened every two years for a period of six weeks, while the Sejmiki each elected two MPs (who were bound by the instructions of their Sejmik).

During the period of the First Polish Republic, the king was elected by free election , which was first held in 1573 . The first king elected in this way was Henry III. (Henryk Walezy) , the last - elected in 1764 - was Stanislaus August Poniatowski . The institute of electio virtim (election of the king by the entire aristocracy) that was in effect at the time of the election lasted until the collapse of the state after the third partition of Poland in 1795 , which - along with the liberum veto - made a major contribution to the decline of the republic Has. The then adopted constitution of May 3, 1791 provided for a hereditary monarchy , whereby the Trohn came to the dynasty of the House of Wettin .

Second republic

The first democratic (general, secret, equal and direct) election to the Polish Constituent National Assembly (Polish: Sejm Ustawodawczy ) held on Polish soil was held by proportional representation on January 26, 1919 , only shortly after Poland regained independence in 1918 . A decree by the head of state granted all citizens who had reached the age of 21 on the day the election was announced the right to vote, for the first time also an active and passive right to vote for women.

The March constitution from 1921 retained universal suffrage and only restricted the voting age for Senate elections: 30 years for active and 40 years for passive suffrage. The parliamentary elections for the Sejm and the Senate were held in 1922, 1928 and 1930.

The April Constitution of 1935 introduced a system of presidential government and changed the electoral system to imperfect proportional representation and conditionally free suffrage - 1/3 of the senators were nominated by the president . This was the system in which elections were held in 1935 and 1938 .

Parliamentary elections

Presidential election

Elections to the Silesian Sejm

Referendums

People's Republic of Poland

The first post-war elections were held in 1947 , in which the members of the Legislative Sejm were elected. 140 PSL officials were murdered during the election campaign and tens of thousands were arrested, 149 of whom were running for MPs at the time of their arrest. The election results were rigged in favor of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) . Although the electoral law of the People's Republic of Poland was democratic on paper, it only favored candidates from the PZPR . Elections were held regularly, but they were also regularly manipulated.

Parliamentary elections in the People's Republic of Poland

Presidential election

National Council elections

Referendums

Third Republic

The next (partially) free elections were held on June 4, 1989 . In accordance with the resolutions of the Polish Round Table , all senators and 35% of the deputies were elected in free elections (so-called contract sejm ), the remaining seats were reserved for the Polish United Workers' Party and its associated bloc parties. These elections are often seen as the start of the Third Polish Republic , as they were held according to the principles of general, direct, equal, secret, and proportional representation .

Turnout (in percent) in elections to the Sejm , European Parliament , self-governing bodies of the municipalities (1st ballot) and the President (1st ballot) .

Results of the elections to the Sejm

Parliamentary elections in the Third Republic

Presidential elections in the Third Republic

Local government elections in the Third Republic

Elections to the European Parliament in the Third Republic

Referendums in the Third Republic

Organization of the elections

Established by the law of January 5, 2011 - Code of Elections (Wyborczy Code) - the elections are organized as follows:

elections	Administrator	Form of the decision	Remarks
President elections (Poland)	Sejm Marshal	Decision of the Sejm Marshal
Sejm elections (Poland) Senate elections (Poland)	President of the Polish Republic	Decision of the Polish President	In case of a shortening of the legislative period of the Sejm - by virtue of a resolution of the Sejm or an order of the Polish President. In the case of a by-election to the Senate - by virtue of a declaration by the State Election Commission (PKW) in the form of a decision-making announcement in the area of the district in which the elections are to be held.
Local government elections (Poland)	Prime Minister of the Polish Republic	Order of the Polish Prime Minister	Subject: city councils, county councils, Woiwodschaftstage and district councils capital Warscha u as well as the election of the bailiff (Polish: Wójty ), mayor and mayor . In the case of by-elections to the council, these are ordered by the voivod .
European Parliament elections	President of the Polish Republic	Decision of the Polish President

Web links

Demokracja urn - Tygodnik "Wprost", No. 1192 (9 października 2005) (Polish)
Strona Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej (Polish)
Kandydaci do Parlamentu Europejskiego (Polish)
Najnowsze informacje o wyborach w Polsce (Polish)

Individual evidence

↑ Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza - Kadencja 2014–2018. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .
↑ pkw.gov.pl
↑ ^a ^b Komuniści fałszują wybory
↑ Barbara Polak: Cena Wygranej. In: Biuletin IPN No. 1 - 1.2002 r. Retrieved February 9, 2019 (Polish).
↑ wybory czerwcowe - Encyklopedia Solidarności. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .

[1] Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza - Kadencja 2014–2018. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .

[2] w.gov.pl

[:0-3] Komuniści fałszują wybory

[4] Barbara Polak: Cena Wygranej. In: Biuletin IPN No. 1 - 1.2002 r. Retrieved February 9, 2019 (Polish).

[5] wybory czerwcowe - Encyklopedia Solidarności. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .