2019 Polish parliamentary election

2019 Polish parliamentary election

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All 460 seats in the Sejm 231 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	30,253,556
Turnout	18,678,457 (61.7%) 10.8pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Mateusz Morawiecki[a] Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska Włodzimierz Czarzasty Party PiS PO SLD Alliance United Right Civic Coalition The Left Last election 37.6%, 235 seats 31.7%, 166 seats[b] 11.2%, 0 seats (aggregate result) Seats won 235 134 49 Seat change 0 32 49 Popular vote 8,051,935 5,060,355 2,319,946 Percentage 43.6% 27.4% 12.6% Swing 6.0pp 4.3pp 1.4pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz Janusz Korwin-Mikke Robert Winnicki Grzegorz Braun Ryszard Galla Party PSL KORWiN RN KKP MN Alliance Polish Coalition Confederation Last election 13.9%, 58 seats[c] 4.8%, 0 seats[d] 0.2%, 1 seat Seats won 30 11 1 Seat change 28 11 Popular vote 1,578,523 1,256,953 32,094 Percentage 8.6% 6.8% 0.2% Swing 5.4pp 2.0pp 0.0pp
Seats won by Sejm district
Government before election First Morawiecki cabinet PiS (ZP) Government after election Second Morawiecki cabinet PiS (ZP)

Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 13 October 2019. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The ruling right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) won re-election to a second term retaining its majority in the Sejm. However, it 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.^[1] For the first time after 1989, the ruling party controlled one house, while the opposition controlled the other.

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.^[2][3] 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.^[4] In protest, the Committee for the Defence of Democracy, with help from the Modern party and Civic Platform, started demonstrations across the country.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7] Some politicians and commentators supporting Law and Justice accused opposition of attempting a "coup d'état".^[8] 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.^[9] Modern's opinion poll ratings fell as a result.

In December 2017 Mateusz Morawiecki succeeded Beata Szydło as Prime Minister.^[10]

December 6, 2018 the Pro-Polish Coalition was formed^[11][12] - 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.^[13] 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.^[14] In June 2019 Modern and the Civic Platform formed a joint parliamentary club.^[15] August 6, the Left was formed, a de facto coalition of Razem, SLD and Wiosna, de jure carrying the SLD name.^[16] On August 8, 2019 PSL allied with Kukiz'15 in an alliance named "Polish Coalition".^[17]

The 460 members of the Sejm are elected by open party-list proportional representation in 41 multi-member districts. Each district has between 7 and 20 seats.

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.^[18] Candidates for Deputies are nominated either by the electoral committees of the various political parties and or by individual voter committees.^[19]

Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an absolute majority and could govern by itself, without a coalition partner.

The constitution can be amended with a supermajority of two-thirds, or 307 deputies.

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.^[20] 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.^[21]

Since the former Sejm and Senate first sitting took place on 12 November 2015,^[22] 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.

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	United Right		Law and Justice	6,516,252	35.28	187	−6
			Solidary Poland	331,467	1.79	10	+1
			Agreement	291,506	1.58	16	+10
			Republican Party	9,972	0.05	1	New
			Independents and others	902,738	4.89	21	–5
		Total		8,051,935	43.59	235	0
	Civic Coalition		Civic Platform	3,589,053	19.43	102	−24
			.Modern	315,209	1.71	8	+3
			Polish Initiative	113,278	0.61	2	New
			The Greens	96,720	0.52	3	+3
			Independents and others	946,095	5.12	19	−16
		Total		5,060,355	27.40	134	−32
	The Left		Democratic Left Alliance	873,450	4.73	23	+23
			Left Together	509,318	2.76	6	+6
			Spring	483,113	2.62	15	New
			Independents and others	454,065	2.46	5	+5
		Total		2,319,946	12.56	49	+49
	Polish Coalition		Polish People's Party	972,339	5.26	19	+3
			Union of European Democrats	29,832	0.16	1	New
			Independents and others[k]	576,352	3.12	10	−27
		Total		1,578,523	8.55	30	−28
	Confederation		KORWiN	448,946	2.43	5	+5
			National Movement	356,902	1.93	5	+2
			Confederation of the Polish Crown	31,148	0.17	1	New
			Independents and others	419,957	2.27	0	0
		Total		1,256,953	6.81	11	+8
	Nonpartisan Local Government Activists			144,773	0.78	0	New
	German Minority			32,094	0.17	1	0
	Effective			18,918	0.10	0	New
	Action of Disappointed Retirees and Pensioners			5,448	0.03	0	New
	Right Wing of the Republic			1,765	0.01	0	−1
Total				18,470,710	100.00	460	0
Valid votes				18,470,710	98.89
Invalid/blank votes				207,747	1.11
Total votes				18,678,457	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				30,253,556	61.74
Source: National Electoral Commission, National Electoral Commission

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	United Right		Law and Justice	5,799,409	31.86	38	−1
			Agreement	356,123	1.96	2	−1
			Solidary Poland	271,915	1.49	2	0
			Independents	1,682,746	9.25	6	−10
		Total		8,110,193	44.56	48	−13
	Civic Coalition		Civic Platform	4,481,803	24.62	34	+7
			Independents and others	2,008,503	11.03	9	+3
		Total		6,490,306	35.66	43	+9
	Polish Coalition		Polish People's Party	865,413	4.75	2	+2
			Union of European Democrats	176,496	0.97	1	New
		Total		1,041,909	5.72	3	+2
	The Left		Democratic Left Alliance	302,312	1.66	0	0
			Spring	64,172	0.35	1	New
			Polish Socialist Party	49,261	0.27	1	+1
		Total		415,745	2.28	2	+2
	Nonpartisan Local Government Activists			331,385	1.82	0	New
	Confederation			144,124	0.79	0	0
	Polish Left			94,988	0.52	0	New
	Restore the Law			92,006	0.51	0	New
	Movement "Citizens RP"			85,720	0.47	0	0
	Silesians Together			50,071	0.28	0	New
	German Minority Electoral Committee			49,138	0.27	0	0
	Kukiz'15 to the Senate			46,210	0.25	0	0
	Mirosław Piotrowski to the Senate			33,967	0.19	0	New
	Together Podhale Spisz Orawa			26,273	0.14	0	0
	Right Wing of the Republic			21,943	0.12	0	New
	Unity of the Nation [pl]			18,327	0.10	0	New
	National Rebirth of Poland			13,859	0.08	0	0
	Normal Country			13,687	0.08	0	New
	Self-Defence			13,510	0.07	0	0
	Labour Party			11,532	0.06	0	New
	Slavic Union			8,469	0.05	0	0
	Independents and single-candidate committees			1,087,986	5.98	4	0
Total				18,201,348	100.00	100	0
Valid votes				18,201,348	97.45
Invalid/blank votes				476,582	2.55
Total votes				18,677,930	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				30,253,556	61.74
Source: National Electoral Commission, National Electoral Commission

• Radoslaw Markowski (2020) Plurality support for democratic decay: the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, West European Politics.

• Polish Parliamentary Elections 2019 — National Electoral Commission / National Electoral Office (in English)