Sejm of the Republic of Poland
Electoral Law
Poland has a stable democratic system. Their republic is a two-chamber multiparty
democracy. The Head of State is the President, elected by a majority of the voters for a
five year term. The upper parliamentary chamber is the Senate, with 100 senators;
whereas in the lower chamber the Sejm, there are 460 members. The Sejm and the
Senate have terms of office that begin on the first day of the Sejm's first sitting and end
on the day before the Sejm's next assembly. The President of the Republic orders
elections 90 days before the expiration of the Sejm's mandate.
The Sejm elections are universal, equal, direct, and confidential therefore
conducted by a secret ballot. Any Polish citizen who has reached the age of 18 by the
election day is able to vote, and anyone who has reached the age of 21 by the election
day is eligible to be elected to the Sejm. No one who has been legally incapacitated or
denied public or electoral rights may vote. The number of Deputies to the Sejm elected in
each constituency is determined by law. 460 Sejm lawmakers will be elected in
constituencies.
Meanwhile, the Presidency is appointed or elected by the Members of the
Assembly wherein the election is held at the first sitting og the newly elected Sejm. The
Presidency’s title is “Marshal of the Sejm” and the term’s duration is 4 years and some
reasons for interruption of the term is by resignation, death, or dismissal. Any member of
the Sejm supported by at least 15 Deputies may be a candidate. For the voting system,
votes are casted by formal vote by public ballot (by show of hands or roll call) and absolute
majority of votes of at ;east half of the Members of the Sejm is required. The results are
then presided by the most senior former Marshal over the Assembly during the voting.
The Marshal of the Sejm ranks second in the hierarchy of State; maybe called upon as
acting Head of State in his/her absence and has precedence over the Marshal of the
Senate.
The National Electoral Commission is charged with organizing and conducting
national elections, as well as overseeing their legality. An independent body nominated
by the President of the Republic, the Commission consists of nine members: three judges
of the Constitutional Tribunal; three judges of the Supreme Administrative Court. Election
committees of political parties and voters can nominate candidates for Deputy. The
proportionality concept requires candidate lists. An electoral committee may be formed
by voters aged 15 or older after collecting at least 1,000 signatures from citizens in
support of its formation. After the National Electoral Commission accepts the notification,
the election committee may conduct electoral activities. A political party's election
committee is an institution of the party authorized to represent it. Each constituency
electoral commission should receive a list of candidates. A constituency list requires the
signatures of at least 5,000 registered voters. Not applicable to an electoral committee
with registered constituency lists in at least half of all districts.
The existing Act on Elections to the Sejm and Senate of the Republic of Poland
guarantees freedom of campaigning. However, election agitation literature must not
contain misleading information. A candidate for the Sejm or an election agent may petition
the regional court for appropriate action (e.g. confiscation of materials, order to correct
information, order to apologise to the person libeled). The law guarantees election
committees equal access to radio and television, allowing them to broadcast election
programs without charge. Moreover, any election committee may broadcast pad electoral
commercials at the same rate.
Since 1989, The Republic of Poland has had a multi-party system, with numerous
competing political parties. Poland, from being a mono-party Communist regime to liberal
democracy and pluralism—it has resulted into new political parties stemming up in the
early 1990’s. When the first free parliamentary elections in 1991 seats in the Sejm, the
elected were divided among more than a dozen different parties. The existence of many
parties has become bothersome and are labeled counterproductive to the effectiveness
of the parliament and a hindrance towards producing stable governments.
Right-wing parties have dominated politics since the 2005 legislative elections and
appear to be in their best position yet. Since 2005, two major changes have occurred in
the political environment. First, the SLD (Communist successor) is no longer the leading
party. The fundamental ideological divide is between the ex-Solidarity right and the exCommunist left. The Law and Justice Party (promotes economic interventionism and
social conservatism) and the Civic Platform (representing a more liberal-conservative
position).
These are few examples of the party competitions in Poland: