Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 13 October 2019. All 460 members of the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

and 100 senators of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

were elected. The ruling

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct s ...

(PiS) retained its majority in the Sejm, but lost its majority in the Senate to the opposition. With 43.6% of the popular vote, Law and Justice received the highest vote share by any party since Poland returned to democracy in 1989. The turnout was the highest for a parliamentary election since the first

free elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

after the fall of communism in 1989. For the first time after 1989, the ruling party controls one house, and the opposition the other.

Background

Following the 2015 parliamentary elections the

(PiS) party was able to form a majority government, after receiving 235 seats to the 138 won by their main competitor, Civic Platform, the first time in the post-communist era that a party had won an outright majority in parliamentary elections. Beata Szydło became

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

on 16 November 2015 heading a

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

that also included Solidary Poland and Poland Together, which ran on joint lists with Law & Justice. On 23 December 2015 the Sejm passed a law, which reorganized the Constitutional Court, introducing a requirement for a two-thirds majority and the mandatory participation of at least 13, instead of 9 of the 15 judges. In addition, in early 2016 the PiS government passed a law which began the process of giving the government full control of state radio and television. In protest, the

Committee for the Defence of Democracy The Committee for the Defence of Democracy, CDD ( pl, Komitet Obrony Demokracji, ''KOD'') is a Polish-born civic organization and NGO which among its goals includes promoting the European values, especially democracy, rule of law, and human ...

, with help from the

Modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

party and Civic Platform, started demonstrations across the country. In December 2016 a parliamentary crisis took place, after the Marshal of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński excluded a Civic Platform's MP Michał Szczerba from the Sejm's proceedings. In protest, members of the opposition occupied the Sejm's rostrum. The Marshal, unable to proceed in the main session chamber, moved the session to the smaller Column Hall. Some politicians and commentators supporting Law and Justice accused opposition of attempting a "

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

". It ended fruitlessly for the opposition, though the

party was disgraced, as its leader, Ryszard Petru, was photographed flying to

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, with fellow MP Joanna Schmidt, during the tense situation. Modern's opinion poll ratings fell as a result. In December 2017 Mateusz Morawiecki succeeded Beata Szydło as Prime Minister. December 6, 2018 the Pro-Polish Coalition was formed - an alliance of KORWiN and the National Movement, with more parties joining later in order to contest the 2019 Elections to the European Parliament. The alliance later changed its name to just "

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical iss ...

". In February 2019 the Wiosna party was founded as a

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

anticlerical party. For the 2019 European Parliament elections, the opposition formed a wide coalition, the

European Coalition European Coalition was the name adopted by various electoral coalitions formed in Spain for elections to the European Parliament. The coalitions were headed by Canarian Coalition. In 2019 the European Coalition was formed in Poland for elections to ...

, with the exception of Wiosna. However, PiS won the European elections. Following the loss, the European Coalition dissolved and the Confederation lost many member parties and leaders. In June 2019 Modern and the Civic Platform formed a joint parliamentary club. August 6, the Left was formed, a ''de facto'' coalition of Razem, SLD and Wiosna, ''de jure'' carrying the SLD name. On August 8, 2019 PSL allied with Kukiz'15 in an alliance named " Polish Coalition".

Electoral system

The 460 members of the Sejm are elected by

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * Open (Blues Image album), ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * Open (Gotthard album), ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * Open (C ...

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be u ...

in 41 multi-member

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. Each district has between 7 and 19 seats. Seats are allocated using the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highes ...

, with a 5% threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (thresholds are waived for national minorities). The Senate is elected using

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast the ...

single-member district A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...

s. Candidates for Deputies are nominated either by the electoral committees of the various political parties and or by individual voter committees. Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

and could govern by itself, without a

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

partner. The constitution can be amended with a

supermajority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

of two-thirds, or 307 deputies.

Election date

The date of the election, 13 October, was set by the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda. The Constitution of Poland requires that the next election should take place on a non-working day, Sunday or national holiday, within the 30-day period before the expiry of the 4-year period beginning from the commencement of the current Sejm's and Senate's term of office. Elections can be held earlier under certain conditions, for instance, if the Sejm is dissolved or if no government is formed in time limit set by the constitution. Since the former Sejm and Senate first sitting took place on 12 November 2015, possible dates were Sundays 13 October, 20 October, 27 October, 3 November and 10 November 2019. The other possible but unlikely dates were public holidays 1 November (

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are k ...

) and 11 November (

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Many ...

) 2019.

Lists

Electoral committees registered in all constituencies

Electoral committees registered in less than half of the constituencies

Electoral committees with candidates only for the Senate

Campaign slogans

Opinion polls

Polish Opinion Polling for the 2019 Election

Results

Sejm

Party breakdown

, - style="background-color:#C0DBFC; text-align:center;" ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Parties and coalitions ! Votes ! % ! Seats , - , rowspan="6" style="background-color:; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 6,516,252 , 35.29 , 187 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 898,063 , 4.86 , 21 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Solidary Poland , 331,467 , 1.79 , 10 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting ...

, 291,506 , 1.58 , 16 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Republican Party , 9,972 , 0.05 , 1 , - , style="background-color:#008000;", , style="text-align:left;", Piast Faction , 1,375 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 8,051,935 , 43.59 , 235 , - , rowspan="12" style="background-color:; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Civic Platform , 3,589,053 , 19.43 , 102 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 936,658 , 5.07 , 19 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", .Modern , 315,209 , 1.71 , 8 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Polish Initiative The Polish Initiative ( Polish: Inicjatywa Polska, iPL) is a progressive political party in Poland. It was formed as an association in 2016, and it was registered as a political party in 2019. Its leader is Barbara Nowacka, and it is a part o ...

, 113,278 , 0.61 , 2 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", The Greens , 96,720 , 0.52 , 3 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish People's Party* , 3,887 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#004996;", , style="text-align:left;", Silesian Regional Party , 2,452 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Democratic Left Alliance* , 1,156 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Social Democracy of Poland , 896 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Your Movement , 443 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FECC2F;", , style="text-align:left;", Freedom and Equality , 372 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Labour Union , 231 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 5,060,355 , 27.40 , 134 , - , rowspan="10" style="background-color:; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Democratic Left Alliance , 873,450 , 4.73 , 23 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Left Together Left Together () is a left-wing political party in Poland. It was formed in 2015 as "Together", and it was one of the eight nationwide committees standing in the 2015 parliamentary election. It was a member of the Progressive International, ...

, 509,318 , 2.76 , 6 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

, 483,113 , 2.62 , 15 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 443,331 , 2.40 , 5 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Your Movement , 4,910 , 0.03 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Socialist Party , 2,798 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Social Justice Movement , 995 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#CC0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Communist Party , 819 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", .Modern* , 688 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#014E97;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Internet Party , 524 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 2,319,946 , 12.56 , 49 , - , rowspan="9" style="background-color:; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish People's Party , 972,339 , 5.26 , 19 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 550,551 , 2.98 , 10 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Union of European Democrats The Union of European Democrats ( pl, Unia Europejskich Demokratów, UED) is a liberal political party in Poland. It is led by Elżbieta Bińczycka. It was founded as a merger of Democratic Party – demokraci.pl and "European Democrats" i ...

, 29,832 , 0.16 , 1 , - , style="background-color:#F0D719;", , style="text-align:left;",

Silesians Together Silesians Together (official name in Silesian-Polish mix: ''Ślonzoki Razem'') is Upper Silesia, Silesian regionalist political party in Poland founded in August 2017 by Witold Berus, Andrzej Roczniok (''Union of People of Silesian Nationality'', ...

, 17,836 , 0.10 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#E73053;", , style="text-align:left;", Poland Needs Us , 4,053 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Alliance of Democrats , 2,497 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", One-PL , 977 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Civic Platform* , 294 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

League of Polish Families The League of Polish Families ( Polish: ''Liga Polskich Rodzin'', LPR) is a conservative political party in Poland, with many far-right elements in the past. The party's original ideology was that of the National Democracy movement which was hea ...

, 144 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,578,523 , 8.55 , 30 , - , rowspan="9" style="background-color:; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 394,090 , 2.13 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", National Movement , 342,033 , 1.85 , 5 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", KORWiN , 286,873 , 1.55 , 3 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 214,731 , 1.16 , 3 , - , style="background-color:#0087BD;", , style="text-align:left;", Union of Christian Families , 15,191 , 0.08 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 1,731 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#ED082C;", , style="text-align:left;",

Free and Solidary Free and Solidary (Polish: ''Wolni i Solidarni'', WiS) was a small political party in Poland. Founder Kornel Morawiecki, the Senior Marshal of the Sejm, led the party until his death in 2019. The party was plagued with poor electoral perform ...

, 1,017 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#000000;", , style="text-align:left;",

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, 658 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Congress of the New Right The Congress of the New Right ( pl, Kongres Nowej Prawicy, Nowa Prawica or just KNP) is an economically libertarian, socially conservative and Eurosceptic political party in Poland. The party was founded on 25 March 2011 by Janusz Korwin-Mikke ...

, 629 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,256,953 , 6.81 , 11 , - , rowspan="4" style="background-color:; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 143,861 , 0.78 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 504 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 255 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish People's Party* , 102 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 144,773 , 0.78 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Regional. Minority with Majority , 17,423 , 0.09 , 1 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 14,671 , 0.08 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 32,094 , 0.17 , 1 , - , rowspan="6" style="background-color:; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Effective , 8,582 , 0.05 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 7,645 , 0.04 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#ED082C;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 1,251 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish People's Party* , 1,150 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", KORWiN* , 249 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#BF1E2E;", , style="text-align:left;", Unity of the Nation , 41 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left; color:white;", Effective , 18,918 , 0.10 , 0 , - , rowspan="7" style="background-color:#25004F; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 3,972 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#25004F;", , style="text-align:left;", Action of Disappointed Retirees and Pensioners , 519 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#C40109;", , style="text-align:left;", Organization of the Polish Nation – Polish League , 398 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#2fa43a;", , style="text-align:left;", PIAST – Unity of European Nations' Thought , 236 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Self-Defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...

, 217 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#083A7F;", , style="text-align:left;", Labour Faction , 54 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#ED082C;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 52 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#25004F; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left; color:white;", Action of Disappointed Retirees and Pensioners , 5,448 , 0.03 , 0 , - , rowspan="3" style="background-color:; border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 775 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 621 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Right Wing of the Republic The Right Wing of the Republic ( pl, Prawica Rzeczypospolitej) is a political party in Poland founded by former ''Marshal of the Sejm'' Marek Jurek on 20 April 2007 after he had left Law and Justice on 16 April 2007, when the Sejm failed to pass ...

, 369 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,765 , 0.01 , 0 , - , colspan="6" style="background-color:#E9E9E9;", , - style="font-weight:bold;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Total , 18,470,710 , 100 , 460 , - , colspan="6" style="text-align:left;", Source: * – individual members running on lists different from their own parties

By constituency

Senate

By constituency

Electorate demographics

Notes

References

External links

Polish Parliamentary Elections 2019 — National Electoral Commission / National Electoral Office
{{Polish elections

Parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Polish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections in Poland 2019 in Poland

Background

Electoral system

Election date

Lists

Electoral committees registered in all constituencies

Electoral committees registered in less than half of the constituencies

Electoral committees with candidates only for the Senate

Campaign slogans

Opinion polls

Results

Sejm

Party breakdown

By constituency

Senate

By constituency

Electorate demographics

Notes

Further reading

References

External links