2019 Polish parliamentary election

The 2019 Polish parliamentary elections were held on 13 October 2019. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The ruling Law and Justice (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 after the fall of communism in 1989.[2] For the first time after 1989, the ruling party controls one house (Sejm) and opposition controls second (Senate).

2019 Polish parliamentary election
13 October 2019
All 460 seats in the Sejm
231 seats are needed for a majority in the Sejm
All 100 seats in the Senate of Poland
51 seats are needed for a majority in the Senate
Opinion polls
Registered30,253,556
Turnout18,678,457 (61.74%) (Sejm)
18,677,930 (61.74%) (Senate)
10.82%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Mateusz Morawiecki Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska Włodzimierz Czarzasty
Party Law and Justice[lower-alpha 1] Civic Coalition[lower-alpha 2] The Left[lower-alpha 3]
Leader since 11 December 2017 (Prime Minister) 3 September 2019 (PM Candidate)[1] 19 July 2019
Leader's seat 31 – Katowice II 19 – Warsaw I 32 – Katowice III
Last election 235 seats, 37.58%
(Sejm)
61 seats, 39.99%
(Senate)		 166 seats, 31.69%[lower-alpha 4]
(Sejm)
34 seats, 31.48%
(Senate)		 0 seats, 11.17%[lower-alpha 5]
(Sejm)
0 seats, 3.97%
(Senate)
Seats before 240 (Sejm)
61 (Senate)		 155 (Sejm)
26 (Senate)		 0 (Sejm)
0 (Senate)
Seats won 235 (Sejm)
48 (Senate)		 134 (Sejm)
43 (Senate)		 49 (Sejm)
2 (Senate)
Seat change 5 (Sejm)
13 (Senate)		 21 (Sejm)
17 (Senate)		 49 (Sejm)
2 (Senate)
Popular vote 8,051,935 (43.59%) (Sejm)
8,110,193 (44.56%) (Senate)		 5,060,355 (27.4%) (Sejm)
6,490,306 (35.66%) (Senate)		 2,319,946 (12.56%) (Sejm)
415,745 (2.28%) (Senate)
Swing 6.01% (Sejm)
4.57% (Senate)		 4.29% (Sejm)
4.18% (Senate)		 1.39% (Sejm)
1.69% (Senate)
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz Janusz Korwin-Mikke Ryszard Galla
Party Polish Coalition[lower-alpha 6] Confederation[lower-alpha 7] German Minority
Leader since 4 July 2019 6 December 2018 25 September 2005
Leader's seat 15 - Tarnów 19 – Warsaw I 21 - Opole
Last election 58 seats, 13.94%[lower-alpha 8]
(Sejm)
1 seats, 8.78%
(Senate)		 0 seats, 4.84%[lower-alpha 9]
(Sejm)
0 seats, 1.24%
(Senate)		 1 seat, 0.18%[lower-alpha 10]
(Sejm)
0 seats, 0.26%
(Senate)
Seats before 38 (Sejm)
1 (Senate)		 0 (Sejm)
0 (Senate)		 1 (Sejm)
0 (Senate)
Seats won 30 (Sejm)
3 (Senate)		 11 (Sejm)
0 (Senate)		 1 (Sejm)
0 (Senate)
Seat change 8 (Sejm)
2 (Senate)		 11 (Sejm)
(Senate)		 (Sejm)
(Senate)
Popular vote 1,578,523 (8.55%) (Sejm)
1,041,909 (5.72%) (Senate)		 1,256,953 (6.81%) (Sejm)
144,124 (0.79%) (Senate)		 32,094 (0.17%)
(Sejm)
49,138 (0.27%)
(Senate)
Swing 5.39% (Sejm)
3.06% (Senate)		 1.97% (Sejm)
0.45% (Senate)		 0.01% (Sejm)
0.01% (Senate)
Seats won by Sejm district
Prime Minister before election

Mateusz Morawiecki
PiS

 Elected Prime Minister

Mateusz Morawiecki
PiS

Background

Following the 2015 parliamentary elections the Law and Justice (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.[3][4] Beata Szydło became Prime Minister on 16 November 2015 heading a cabinet 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.[5] In protest, the Committee for the Defence of Democracy, with help from the Modern party and Civic Platform, started demonstrations across the country.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8] Some politicians and comentators supporting Law and Justice accused opposition of attempting a "coup d'état".[9] There was no military involvement in the event. It ended fruitlessly for the opposition, though the Modern party was disgraced, as its leader, Ryszard Petru, was photographed flying to Madeira, with fellow MP Joanna Schmidt, during the tense situation.[10] Modern's opinion poll ratings fell as a result.

In December 2017 Mateusz Morawiecki succeeded Beata Szydło as Prime Minister.[11]

December 6, 2018 the Pro-Polish Coalition was formed[12][13] - 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".

In February 2019 the Wiosna party was founded as a left wing anticlerical party.[14] For the 2019 European Parliament elections, the opposition formed a wide coalition, the European Coalition, 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.[15] In June 2019 Modern and the Civic Platform formed a joint parliamentary club.[16] August 6, the Left was formed, a de facto coalition of Razem, SLD and Wiosna, de jure carrying the SLD name.[17] On August 8, 2019 PSL allied with Kukiz'15 in an alliance named "Polish Coalition".[18]

Electoral system

The 460 members of the Sejm are elected by open party-list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. Seats are allocated using the D'Hondt method, 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 single-member districts.[19] Candidates for Deputies are nominated either by the electoral committees of the various political parties and or by individual voter committees.[20]

Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an absolute majority and could thus govern by itself, without a coalition partner. The constitution can be amended with a supermajority 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.[21] 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.[22]

Since the former Sejm and Senate first sitting took place on 12 November 2015,[23] 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) and 11 November (Independence Day) 2019.

Lists

Electoral committees registered in all constituencies
List Ideology European Union position Leader Standing pre-campaign # of candidates
Sejm Senate Sejm Senate
1 Polish Coalition[lower-alpha 6]
• Polish People's Party
• Kukiz'15
• Union of European Democrats
• Alliance of Democrats
• Silesians Together
• Poland Needs Us
• One-PL		 Christian democracy, decentralization Pro-Europeanism Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz
38 / 460
1 / 100
 919 16
2 Law and Justice[lower-alpha 1]
• Agreement
• United Poland
• Republican Party
• "Piast" Party
• Free and Solidary		 National conservatism, Christian democracy Soft Euroscepticism Jarosław Kaczyński[lower-alpha 11]
240 / 460
61 / 100
 919 99
3 The Left[lower-alpha 3]
• Democratic Left Alliance
• Spring
• Together
• Your Movement
• Polish Socialist Party
 Social democracy, progressivism Pro-Europeanism Włodzimierz Czarzasty, Adrian Zandberg[24]
0 / 460
0 / 100
 911 7
4 Confederation[lower-alpha 7]
• KORWiN
• National Movement
• Confederation of the Polish Crown
• Union of Christian Families
• Party of Drivers
• National League		 Right-libertarianism, Polish nationalism Hard Euroscepticism Janusz Korwin-Mikke
Robert Winnicki
Grzegorz Braun
4 / 460
0 / 100
 881 7
5 Civic Coalition[lower-alpha 2]
• Civic Platform
• Modern
• The Greens
• Polish Initiative
• Silesian Autonomy Movement
• Social Democracy of Poland		 Liberalism, big tent Pro-Europeanism Grzegorz Schetyna, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska (candidate for Prime Minister)[25]
155 / 460
26 / 100
 920 73

Electoral committees registered in less than half of the constituencies
List Ideology European Union position Leader Standing pre-campaign Number of constituencies # of candidates
Sejm Senate Sejm Senate
6 Right Wing of the Republic Social conservatism, political Catholicism Soft Euroscepticism Bogusław Kiernicki
1 / 460
0 / 100
 0 18 0
7 Action of Disappointed Retirees and Pensioners Pensioners' rights, solidarism Soft Euroscepticism Wojciech Kornowski
0 / 460
0 / 100
 3 53 0
8 Coalition of Nonpartisan and Local Government Activists Decentralization, pro-single-member districts Pro-Europeanism Robert Raczyński
0 / 460
0 / 100
 19 405 14
9 Effective Classical liberalism, direct democracy Soft Euroscepticism Piotr Liroy-Marzec
1 / 460
0 / 100
 5 75 0
10 German Minority German minority interests, regionalism Pro-Europeanism Ryszard Galla
1 / 460
0 / 100
 1 24 2

Electoral committees with candidates only for the Senate
Name Ideology European Union position Leader Candidates
Sejm Senate
Restore the Law Pro-single-member districts, populism Soft Euroscepticism Janusz Sanocki Effective list 7
Polish Left Social democracy, third way Pro-Europeanism Jacek Zdrojewski 3
List of Mirosław Piotrowski to the Senate National Catholicism, Christian right Soft Euroscepticism Mirosław Piotrowski 3
Self-Defence Agrarian socialism, left-wing nationalism Hard Euroscepticism Lech Kuropatwiński 2
Unity of the Nation National conservatism, national Catholicism Soft Euroscepticism Gabriel Janowski 2
Silesians Together Localism, Silesian autonomism Pro-Europeanism Leon Swaczyna Polish Coalition list 2
List of Kukiz'15 to the Senate Pro-single-member districts, direct democracy Pro-Europeanism Paweł Kukiz Polish Coalition list 2
Other electoral committees with only one candidate Various 39

Campaign slogans
List Slogan in Polish Unofficial English translation
Polish Coalition Łączymy Polaków We connect Poles
Law and Justice Dobry czas dla Polski A good time for Poland
The Left Łączy nas przyszłość
Wybierz przyszłość		 The future unites us
Choose the future
Confederation Polska dla Ciebie Poland for you
Civic Coalition Jutro może być lepsze;
Współpraca, a nie kłótnie		 Tomorrow can be better;
Cooperation, not quarrels
Coalition of Nonpartisans and Local Government Activists Ty też jesteś bezpartyjny! You are also nonpartisan!
Effective Odpowiedzialna Polska Responsible Poland
German Minority Opolskie! Ma znaczenie Opole! It matters

Opinion polls
Main article: Opinion polling for the 2019 Polish parliamentary election

Results
See also: 9th term Sejm and 10th term Senate of Poland

Sejm
Results of the Sejm election by powiats.
Electoral Committee Votes % Seats +/-
Law and Justice (PiS) 8,051,935 43.59 235 -5
Civic Coalition (KO) 5,060,355 27.40 134 -32
The Left (SLD) 2,319,946 12.56 49 +49
Polish Coalition (PSL) 1,578,523 8.55 30 -28
Confederation (KWiN) 1,256,953 6.81 11 +7
German Minority (MN) 32,094 0.17 1 ±0
Nonpartisan local government activists (BS) 144,569 0.78 0 ±0
Effective (Skuteczni) 18,918 0.10 0 -1
Action of Disappointed Retirees and Pensioners (AZER) 5,448 0.03 0 ±0
Right Wing of the Republic (PR) 1,765 0.01 0 -1
Valid votes 18,470,710 98.89
Blank and invalid votes 207,747 1.11
Total 18,678,457 100 460 ±0
Abstentions 11,575,099 38.26
Registered voters / Turnout 30,253,556 61.74
(Source: National Electoral Commission)
Popular vote (Sejm)
PiS
 
 43.59%
KO
 
 27.40%
SLD
 
 12.56%
PSL
 
 8.55%
KWiN
 
 6.81%
BS
 
 0.78%
Others
 
 0.31%
Parliament seats (Sejm)
PiS
 
 51.09%
KO
 
 29.13%
SLD
 
 10.65%
PSL
 
 6.52%
KWiN
 
 2.39%
MN
 
 0.22%

By constituency
Constituency Turnout PiS KO SLD PSL KWiN MN Others Lead
1 – Legnica 57.80 42.40 25.02 16.43 7.17 5.85 - 0.00 17.38
2 – Wałbrzych 55.83 40.54 32.09 12.35 7.25 5.42 - 2.34 8.45
3 – Wrocław 65.89 34.67 32.80 15.41 7.45 6.46 - 3.21 1.87
4 – Bydgoszcz 59.90 36.43 31.05 15.17 9.02 7.05 - 1.29 5.38
5 – Toruń 56.37 40.38 26.42 14.83 10.88 6.33 - 1.16 13.96
6 – Lublin 60.88 55.39 19.30 7.81 9.10 7.07 - 1.32 36.09
7 – Chełm 54.40 59.50 14.80 6.83 11.86 5.84 - 1.16 44.70
8 – Zielona Góra 57.20 34.30 31.27 15.61 11.63 7.19 - 0.00 3.03
9 – Łódź 68.32 32.90 35.82 20.10 4.53 6.65 - 0.00 2.92
10 – Piotrków Trybunalski 61.81 56.21 15.64 10.95 10.44 6.76 - 0.00 40.57
11 – Sieradz 60.92 49.81 20.48 11.98 10.29 5.88 - 1.56 29.33
12 – Kraków I 62.86 53.48 23.04 8.51 7.90 7.06 - 0.00 30.44
13 – Kraków II 68.57 39.56 30.48 13.01 7.27 7.99 - 1.69 9.08
14 – Nowy Sącz 60.28 65.80 13.83 6.07 7.35 6.95 - 0.00 51.97
15 – Tarnów 60.47 59.59 14.00 5.94 13.35 7.11 - 0.00 45.59
16 – Płock 57.68 52.45 16.85 8.76 15.17 5.24 - 1.53 35.60
17 – Radom 60.84 57.82 17.15 7.43 10.20 5.89 - 1.51 40.67
18 – Siedlce 60.98 59.76 13.94 6.45 11.94 6.49 - 1.42 45.82
19 – Warsaw I 79.75 27.49 42.05 18.19 4.75 7.51 - 0.00 14.56
20 – Warsaw II 70.56 40.89 28.61 13.09 8.60 6.63 - 2.19 12.28
21 – Opole 52.91 37.64 26.71 11.74 10.31 5.70 7.90 0.00 10.93
22 – Krosno 56.37 63.36 15.94 6.04 7.85 6.81 - 0.00 47.42
23 – Rzeszów 60.13 62.38 14.39 6.59 7.79 8.25 - 0.60 47.99
24 – Białystok 56.97 52.04 21.04 9.09 9.33 6.96 - 1.55 31.00
25 – Gdańsk 64.21 32.10 41.31 13.47 5.90 7.21 - 0.00 9.21
26 – Słupsk 62.79 36.43 35.85 12.47 7.94 7.30 - 0.00 0.58
27 – Bielsko-Biała I 64.91 46.76 27.20 11.48 7.13 7.42 - 0.00 19.56
28 – Częstochowa 61.22 44.28 22.63 15.59 8.68 6.07 - 2.75 21.65
29 – Katowice I 59.18 37.75 32.61 13.38 5.99 7.67 - 2.61 5.14
30 – Bielsko-Biała II 60.41 48.28 27.71 9.68 5.64 7.17 - 1.54 20.57
31 – Katowice II 64.00 39.19 37.20 11.92 4.37 7.33 - 0.00 1.99
32 – Katowice III 62.99 37.13 29.66 21.90 4.85 6.45 - 0.00 7.47
33 – Kielce 57.70 55.18 16.65 9.95 9.88 5.95 - 2.40 38.53
34 – Elbląg 52.71 40.86 28.43 11.64 10.89 5.66 - 2.52 12.43
35 – Olsztyn 54.32 38.82 26.46 13.84 13.19 6.97 - 0.71 12.36
36 – Kalisz 59.67 42.48 24.72 13.43 12.80 6.57 - 0.00 17.76
37 – Konin 59.08 47.29 20.48 15.04 9.81 6.74 - 0.64 26.81
38 – Piła 59.11 35.64 30.60 13.28 13.86 6.62 - 0.00 5.04
39 – Poznań 73.13 25.33 45.38 16.49 6.20 6.61 - 0.00 20.05
40 – Koszalin 55.46 36.83 32.31 15.44 9.43 5.98 - 0.00 4.52
41 – Szczecin 59.36 35.11 35.71 15.25 7.40 6.53 - 0.00 0.60
Poland 61.74 43.59 27.40 12.56 8.55 6.81 0.17 0.92 16.19

Senate
Results of the Senate election by single-mandate districts.
  Law and Justice (PiS)
  Civic Coalition (KO)
  Polish People's Party (PSL)
  The Left (SLD)
  Independent
Results of the Senate election, showing vote strength by electoral district.
Electoral committee Votes % Seats +/-
Law and Justice (PiS) 8,110,193 44.56 48 –13
Civic Coalition (KO) 6,490,306 35.66 43 +9
Polish Coalition (PSL) 1,041,909 5.72 3 +2
The Left 415,745 2.28 2 +2
Nonpartisan local government activists (BS) 331,385 1.82 0 ±0
Confederation (KWiN) 144,124 0.79 0 ±0
Independents 187,014 1.03 4 ±0
Others 1,511,672 8.31 0 ±0
Valid votes 18,201,348 97.45
Blank and invalid votes 476,582 2.55
Total 18,677,930 100 100 ±0
Abstentions 11,575,626 38.26
Registered voters / Turnout 30,253,556 61.74
(Source: National Electoral Commission)
Popular vote (Senate)
PiS
 
 44.56%
KO
 
 35.66%
PSL
 
 5.72%
SLD
 
 2.28%
BS
 
 1.82%
KWiN
 
 0.79%
Independent
 
 1.03%
Others
 
 8.31%
Parliament seats (Senate)
PiS
 
 48.00%
KO
 
 43.00%
PSL
 
 3.00%
SLD
 
 2.00%
Independent
 
 4.00%


Polish Election Results (historical)

Notes
  1. Informally as the United Right with participants standing for election on the Law and Justice political party electoral committee lists. Other participants of the political alliance include Agreement, United Poland, Republican Party, "Piast" Party, and Free and Solidary
  2. An official coalition electoral committee composed of Civic Platform, Modern, Polish Initiative, and the Greens with candidates from other parties (e.g. Silesian Autonomy Movement), independents, local government activists, and political associations. The threshold of 8% of the votes, therefore, applies.
  3. While a formal political alliance, participants stand for election on the Democratic Left Alliance political party electoral committee lists. Other participants of the political alliance include Spring, Together and Polish Socialist Party.
  4. Result of Civic Platform and Modern
  5. Result of United Left and Together
  6. While a formal political alliance, participants stand for election on the Polish People's Party political party electoral committee lists. Other participants of the political alliance include Kukiz'15, Union of European Democrats, Alliance of Democrats and other associations
  7. Officially registered as a political party, but is, in fact, a political alliance between KORWiN, National Movement, Confederation of Polish Crown, Union of Christian Families.
  8. Result of PSL and Kukiz'15
  9. Result of KORWiN party and God Bless You!, below the 5% threshold.
  10. The German Minority Electoral Committee only stands in the Opole constituency and as an ethnic minority electoral committee, they are not required to reach the minimum thresholds to send members to the Sejm
  11. Mateusz Morawiecki was selected as the United Right candidate for Prime Minister of Poland

Further reading

References
  1. https://www.tvn24.pl/tvn24-news-in-english,157,m/malgorzata-kidawa-blonska-is-civic-coalition-candidate-for-prime-minister,966541.html
  2. "Poland celebrates record voter turnout since 1989 elections". TVN24. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  3. "Poland Ousts Government as Law & Justice Gains Historic Majority". Bloomberg. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  4. "Poland elections: Conservatives secure decisive win". 25 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  5. "Poland's president signs media law despite EU concerns". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  6. "Polish media laws: Nationwide protests are staged - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  7. "Poseł Michał Szczerba wykluczony z obrad".
  8. "Kryzys sejmowy (http://www.tvn24.pl)".
  9. "Rok temu doszło do próby "puczu" w Polsce. Zapoczątkowało ją prowokacyjne wystąpienie posła Szczerby w Sejmie". wpolityce.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  10. "Skruszona Schmidt o locie z Petru: żałuję, to mój błąd". fakt.pl. 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  11. "Dymisja Beaty Szydło przyjęta. Prezydent desygnował nowego premiera". TVN24.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  12. Redakcja (2019-02-27). "Konfederacja KORWiN, Liroy, Braun, Narodowcy. Zaprezentowano nazwę i logo. Znamy szczegóły". Polska Times (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  13. ""Łączy nas Polexit". Narodowcy i Korwin-Mikke łączą siły przed wyborami do PE". Do Rzeczy (in Polish). 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  14. "Robert Biedroń zakłada partię Wiosna. Przedstawiono postulaty". rp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  15. "Kaja Godek opuszcza Konfederację. Mówi o "marginalizowaniu pro-liferów"". Pch24.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  16. Bogdańska, Katarzyna (2019-06-08). "PO i Nowoczesna. Jest decyzja o wspólnym klubie". wiadomosci.wp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  17. "Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej zmienił skrót z SLD na Lewica | Polska Agencja Prasowa SA". pap.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  18. "Oficjalnie: PSL i Kukiz'15 wystartują wspólnie". rp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  19. Álvarez-Rivera, Manuel (17 October 2015). "Election Resources on the Internet: Elections to the Polish Sejm, Part I". electionresources.org. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  20. http://www.sejm.gov.pl/english/sejm/pos.htm
  21. Constitution of Poland, Article 98, p. 2.
  22. Constitution of Poland, Article 98, p. 5.
  23. "12 listopada odbędą się pierwsze posiedzenia Sejmu i Senatu nowych kadencji". TVP. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  24. "How Sunday's election may impact Poland's economy".
  25. "Poland votes: PiS and its pact with the people".
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