HOW TO VOTE in Poland
The European elections in Poland will be held on 26 May 2019. Anyone aged 18 or over can cast a vote. It’s also possible to vote abroad if certain conditions are met.
Voters in Poland have to vote in polling stations based on their home address.
In principle you are automatically entered onto the permanent register of voters where they live permanently. However, if your place has changed recently, you should check with given office of the municipality if you have been added to the register of voters.
Based on the register of voters, a roll of voters is created, i.e. a list of people who have the right to vote in a given polling station.
If you want to vote outside the place where you live, you have two options:
- You can take a certificate of the right to vote - the application is submitted to the office of the municipality in which you are included in the roll of voters. You can submit your application in writing, by fax or in electronic form. With this certificate you can vote in any of the polling stations in Poland or abroad;
- You can submit a written application to be added to the roll of voters in the municipality where you will be staying on the election day. The application must be submitted to the office of the municipality no later than 5 days before the election day.
To find out your nearest polling station, check put this website: Poland’s National Electoral Commission.
You find more information here.
You don’t need to register in advance, as this is done automatically by the authorities.
At any time you can check at the office of the municipality whether you are registered into the register of voters.
Between 21 and 8 days before the election day you can check at the office of the municipality whether you have been included into the roll of voters, and if not - submit an application to be added to the roll of voters no later than 5 days before the election day.
You find more information here.
If you intend to vote in the polling station where you live permanently, you do not have to register to vote.
Information on where you should register when you intend to vote outside of your place where you live permanently can be found in the answer to the question: Where can you vote?
You find more information here.
Only voters who have a certificate of disability, attesting to a significant or moderate level of disability, are entitled to vote by post (and only then in the case of electoral wards in Poland).
The intention to vote by mail a disabled voter reports to the electoral commissioner by the 15th day before the election day. The notification may be made orally, in writing, by telegraph, fax or electronically. The notification should contain:
- surname and name (s)
- father's name
- date of birth
- social security registration number (PESEL)
- declaration on entering this voter onto the register of voters in a given commune
- denotation of the elections
- delivery address of the election package.
The notification should be accompanied by a copy of the current disability certificate. In the notification, a disabled voter may request to add to the electoral package a Braille overlay for a voting card.
The disabled voter who submitted the intention to vote by mail will receive an electoral package, not later than seven days before election day. After filling in the voting card, the voter puts it in the voting envelope, seals it and then puts the envelope in the return envelope. The voter should also attach a signed statement about the personal and secret vote received in the electoral package. The voter sends the complete electoral package to the appropriate polling station.
Useful links
- Poland’s National Electoral Commission
- Poland’s Electoral Code (Kodeks Wyborczy PL Version)
Only voters who have a certificate of disability, attesting to a significant or moderate level of disability, are entitled to vote by post or by proxy (and only then in the case of electoral wards in Poland). In addition, people aged 75 or over on election day may also vote by proxy.
A proxy may only be a person registered in the same register of voters, or having the certified right to vote in the same municipality, as the voter granting power of attorney to vote. The power of attorney to vote shall be granted before the mayor or another employee authorised by the municipal mayor.
The act of power of attorney to vote shall be made at the request of the voter, brought before the mayor of the municipality in which the voter is registered, not later than 9th day before election day. The application should include:
- surname and name (s)
- father's name
- date of birth
- social security registration number (PESEL)
- address of both the voter and the person to be granted power of attorney to vote
- clear denotation of the election for which the proxy to vote is being provided.
Useful links
- Poland’s National Electoral Commission
- Poland’s Electoral Code (Kodeks Wyborczy PL Version)
Every EU citizen who fulfils certain conditions has the right to vote in European Parliament elections in all European Union countries. In Poland, non-Polish EU citizens permanently residing in the area of the commune are entered on the register of voters, part B.
Non-Polish EU citizens must be registered in the register of voters at the municipality of where they live. The regulations do not indicate the date by which the request for entry in the register of voters must be submitted. However, you have to take into account that the mayor has three days to process the application.
Based on the register of voters, an electoral roll is created. EU citizens who are not Polish citizens (the same as Polish citizens) may vote at a chosen polling station provided that they submit a request in writing for entry on the electoral roll. The written request have to be made to the municipality no later than five days prior to the election.
In Poland there are 13 constituencies, which means that voters in each of these constituencies choose among different candidates, even if they are still put forward by the same national political parties. The constituencies are the following:
• No. 1: Pomeranian Voivodeship
• No. 2: Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
• No. 3: Podlaskie Voivodeship and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
• No. 4: the part of Masovian Voivodeship (it includes Warsaw and 8 powiats: Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Legionowo, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Otwock, Piaseczno, Pruszków, Warsaw West, Wołomin)
• No. 5: the part of Masovian Voivodeship (it includes of all those powiats of the Masovian Voivodeship which are not in the No. 4 Constituency)
• No. 6: Łódź Voivodeship
• No. 7: Greater Poland Voivodeship
• No. 8: Lublin Voivodeship
• No. 9: Podkarpackie Voivodeship
• No. 10: Lesser Poland Voivodeship and Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship
• No. 11: Silesian Voivodeship
• No. 12: Lower Silesian Voivodeship and Opole Voivodeship
• No. 13: Lubusz Voivodeship and West Pomeranian Voivodeship
Under EU law, all countries must use voting systems that ensure proportional representation, which means that the number of elected members from each party depends on the share of electoral votes obtained by the party.
Poland uses preferential voting, which gives voters the option to indicate their preferences within the party list they choose. Candidates who receive the most preferences are more likely to be elected.
In these elections the number of seats in individual constituencies are not fixed in advance. The turnout affects the distribution of seats in constituencies. It may happen that no mandate will be granted in a given constituency due to the low turnout.
You should be able to find complete lists of all candidates on the following website once the registration period has ended: Poland’s National Electoral Commission
People with disabilities have two additional forms of voting: postal voting and proxy voting.
A disabled voter has the right to obtain full information in his commune about the location of the nearest polling stations adapted to the disabled.
The polling station should be specially prepared for the needs of people with disabilities. Election announcements and election results must be placed in places easily accessible to people with reduced mobility. At the request of a disabled voter, a member of a polling station shall be obliged to pass the content of specific electoral announcements orally. In addition, a disabled voter may vote by using overlays for voting cards made in Braille.
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