Elections to the Senate are held every four years, at the same time as elections to the Sejm. The rules governing Senate elections are laid down in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the Electoral Code.
The Senate is the upper house of Parliament and consists of 100 senators, elected by universal, direct and secret ballot. The Senate’s term of office is four years and coincides with that of the Sejm. A person may not be both a deputy and a senator at the same time.
Who can vote and stand for election?
- A Polish citizen who has the right to vote may vote, i.e. a person who is at least 18 years of age on election day and has not been deprived of public rights or electoral rights or declared legally incapacitated.
- A Polish citizen who has the right to stand for election may stand as a candidate for senator, i.e. a person who is at least 30 years of age on election day, has the right to vote, has not been convicted by a final judgment and sentenced to imprisonment for an intentional offence prosecuted by public indictment or an intentional fiscal offence, and has not been subject to a final court ruling depriving them of the right to stand for election.
What principles govern Senate elections?
Elections to the Senate are:
- universal – every citizen who has the right to vote (voter) may take part;
- direct – voters cast their votes themselves, without intermediaries, unless a vote is cast by proxy;
- secret – voters cast their votes anonymously; no one else has the right to know how a voter has voted.
How are senators elected?
Senators are elected in 100 single-member constituencies into which the territory of Poland is divided.
- An electoral committee may nominate only one candidate for senator in a given constituency.
- A voter marks the name of only one candidate on the ballot paper (i.e. casts a vote for one candidate).
- The candidate who receives the highest number of votes in a given constituency is elected senator (the plurality system).
Good to know
The President decides the date of parliamentary elections. To this end, the President issues an order calling the elections. The order must be issued no later than 90 days before the end of the current term of office of the Sejm and the Senate. The elections are called for a non-working day falling within the 30 days preceding the end of the current term of office of the Sejm and the Senate.
In the order calling the elections, the President also sets out the electoral timetable. The electoral timetable is a schedule of specific electoral activities. It specifies the dates on which the deadlines for individual electoral activities expire.
Electoral activities include:
- appointing constituency and precinct electoral commissions;
- nominating candidates for senator;
- publication by constituency electoral commissions, in the form of an official notice, of information on registered candidates for senator;
- the end of the electoral campaign;
- voting.
The order calling the elections is made public by publication in the Journal of Laws.
- Candidates for senator are nominated by electoral committees. Electoral committees may be established by political parties, coalitions of political parties and voters.
- The nomination of a candidate for senator must be supported by the signatures of at least 2,000 voters. A voter may support more than one candidate for senator.
- A person may stand for election to the Senate in only one constituency. A candidate for senator may not simultaneously stand as a candidate for deputy.
The validity of elections to the Senate is determined by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court also considers any electoral protests challenging the validity of the elections.
A protest against the validity of an election in a constituency or against the election of a senator may be lodged by a voter whose name, on election day, was included in the register of voters for one of the polling districts within the constituency concerned.
The following persons, among others, may not serve as senators:
- Members of the European Parliament;
- the President of the Republic of Poland;
- persons holding certain senior State offices or functions: the President of the National Bank of Poland, the President of the Supreme Audit Office, the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights or their deputies, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance, the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection, ambassadors, members of the Monetary Policy Council and members of the National Broadcasting Council;
- persons employed by the Chancelleries of the Sejm, the Senate or the President of the Republic of Poland, or in government administration (with the exception of members of the Council of Ministers and Secretaries of State in government administration – Deputy Ministers);
- councillors, mayors of cities, heads of communes, mayors of towns, judges, public prosecutors, civil servants, active-duty military personnel, police officers and officers of State protection services.
A candidate for senator born before 1 August 1972 is required to submit a declaration concerning any employment or service in, or cooperation with, State security bodies between 22 July 1944 and 31 July 1990 (lustration declaration). Submitting a false declaration results in the loss of the senator’s mandate.
If a senator’s mandate expires, a by-election is held. No by-election is held if less than nine months remain until the end of the Senate’s term of office.
Senate elections – step by step
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Constituencies
Poland is divided into 100 single-member constituencies for elections to the Senate.
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Candidates
Candidates are nominated by political parties or stand for election as independent candidates.
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Elections
Senate elections are universal. Every Polish citizen who has the right to vote may take part. Voting is direct and secret.
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Plurality system
The candidate who receives the highest number of votes in a given constituency is elected senator.
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Mandate
A senator assumes their mandate upon taking the oath of office. As a rule, a senator’s mandate expires at the end of the parliamentary term.