In Poland, in case of a premature expiry of a Senatorial term, by-elections are held to fill the vacancy. [1] Several by-elections have been held in Polish history following the Senate's reestablishment following the fall of Communism in Poland.
The Polish Senate is composed of one hundred Senators, all elected in single-seat constituencies, in contrast to several-seat electoral districts that are used to elect the Sejm. Unlike the Sejm, for which there are no by-elections, Senate by-elections are held if a Senator's term expires prematurely. A Senate term may expire prematurely in the case of: [1]
By-elections were held in Constituency 33 (Elbląg) on 28 January 2007 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Elżbieta Gelert's term, who was elected one of the city councillors of Elbląg in the 2006 local elections.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Władysław Mańkut | Left and Democrats | 4,026 | 31.49 | |
Antoni Czyżyk | Civic Platform | 3,503 | 27.40 | |
Jolanta Szulc | Polish People's Party | 2,852 | 22.31 | |
Lech Kraśniański | Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland | 1,222 | 9.56 | |
Irena Tarnacka | League of Polish Families | 1,183 | 9.25 | |
Total | 12,786 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 12,786 | 98.88 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 145 | 1.12 | ||
Total votes | 12,931 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 504,321 | 2.56 | ||
Left and Democrats gain from Civic Platform | ||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [2] |
In 2010, five by-elections were held, three of which alongside the 2010 Polish presidential election as a result of the passing of Senators Janina Fetlińska, Stanisław Zając and Krystyna Bochenek at the Smolensk air disaster.
By-elections were held in Constituency 21 (Krosno) on 22 June 2008 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Andrzej Mazurkiewicz's term, as he passed away as a result of a ruptured aneurysm on 21 March 2008. [3] [4]
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stanisław Zając | Law and Justice | 40,993 | 48.38 | +9.17 [a] | |
Maciej Lewicki | Civic Platform | 22,457 | 26.50 | −3.1 | |
Marek Jurek | Right Wing of the Republic | 10,751 | 12.69 | +8.92 | |
Andrzej Lepper | Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland | 3,435 | 4.05 | −0.23 | |
Wacław Posadzki | Democratic Left Alliance | 2,703 | 3.19 | −6.18 [b] | |
Jan Kułaj | Democratic Party – demokraci.pl | 1,774 | 2.09 | − | |
Tadeusz Kaleniecki | Polish Left | 993 | 1.17 | − | |
Stanisław Sagan | Alliance of Democrats | 386 | 0.46 | − | |
Zygmunt Wrzodak | National Congress of Poland | 384 | 0.45 | − | |
Krzysztof Rutkowski | Independent | 357 | 0.42 | − | |
Mirosław Orzechowski | League of Polish Families | 308 | 0.36 | −3.96 | |
Jerzy Wróbel | Polish Labour Party | 194 | 0.23 | − | |
Total | 84,735 | 100.00 | – | ||
Valid votes | 84,735 | 99.07 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 794 | 0.93 | |||
Total votes | 85,529 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 701,499 | 12.19 | |||
Law and Justice hold | |||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [5] |
By-elections were held in Constituency 15 (Płock) on 20 June 2010 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Janina Fetlińska's term, as she passed away at the Smolensk air disaster. [6] It was held concurrently to the 2010 Polish presidential election.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Michał Boszko | Polish People's Party | 132,426 | 42.72 | |
Marek Martynowski | Law and Justice | 127,446 | 41.11 | |
Tomasz Kałużyński | Poland Plus | 50,111 | 16.17 | |
Total | 309,983 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 309,983 | 93.99 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 19,823 | 6.01 | ||
Total votes | 329,806 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 674,920 | 48.87 | ||
Polish People's Party gain from Law and Justice | ||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [7] |
By-elections were held in Constituency 21 (Krosno) on 20 June 2010 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Stanisław Zając's term, as he passed away at the Smolensk air disaster. [8] It was held concurrently to the 2010 Polish presidential election. Alicja Zając, the widow of the late incumbent, was elected with no opposition, though 18% of ballots cast were invalid. They were the second Senatorial by-elections held that term in Constituency 21.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alicja Zając | Law and Justice | 269,928 | 100.00 | |
Total | 269,928 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 269,928 | 81.57 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 60,992 | 18.43 | ||
Total votes | 330,920 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 709,190 | 46.66 | ||
Law and Justice hold | ||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [7] |
By-elections were held in Constituency 30 (Katowice) on 20 June 2010 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Krystyna Bochenek's term, as she passed away at the Smolensk air disaster. [9] It was held concurrently to the 2010 Polish presidential election.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Leszek Marian Piechota | Civic Platform | 244,899 | 59.84 | |
Zbigniew Zdónek | Polish Labour Party | 82,788 | 20.23 | |
Adam Stach | Polish People's Party | 81,561 | 19.93 | |
Total | 409,248 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 409,248 | 94.07 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 25,812 | 5.93 | ||
Total votes | 435,060 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 817,365 | 53.23 | ||
Civic Platform hold | ||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [7] |
By-elections were held in Constituency 37 (Piła) on 6 February 2011 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Piotr Głowski 's term, who was elected mayor of Piła in the 2010 local elections. [10]
Henryk Stokłosa, long-time Senator from Piła Voivodeship, who began his career in the Senate at the 1989 Polish parliamentary election as the only non-Solidarity-endorsed candidate, was running again after being unseated in 2005 Polish parliamentary election. Following the election loss, Stokłosa was arrested for corruption, [11] but released on bail in December 2008. [12] Following the resignation of Piotr Głowski from the post of Senator to become mayor of Piła, Stokłosa declared his start in the upcoming by-elections, [13] and was the first to register. [14] Besides him, three more parties registered candidates: PO nominated Maria Janyska, SLD nominated Zbigniew Ajchler and PSL nominated Leszek Łochowicz. PiS also tried to nominate a candidate but failed to gather enough signatures. [15] In the lead up to election day, Stokłosa was considered a favorite, accusing the government of being in a conspiracy to deprive him of his wealth, and criticizing mainsteam politicians for "taking advantage" of the Smolensk air disaster. [16] He ended up as the victor, winning 39.9% of the vote, being 10.34% ahead of Janyska in second place.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henryk Stokłosa | Independent | 15,057 | 39.90 | − [c] | |
Maria Janyska | Civic Platform | 11,156 | 29.56 | +0.28 [d] | |
Zbigniew Ajchler | Democratic Left Alliance | 6,525 | 17.29 | −5.15 | |
Leszek Łochowicz | Polish People's Party | 5,000 | 13.25 | −7.49 | |
Total | 37,738 | 100.00 | – | ||
Valid votes | 37,738 | 98.24 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 678 | 1.76 | |||
Total votes | 38,416 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 609,078 | 6.31 | |||
Independent gain from Civic Platform | |||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [17] |
According to sociologist Rafał Drozdowski , the low turnout of only 6.31% contributed to Stokłosa's victory. [18] After the election, Marshal of the Senate Bogdan Borusewicz stated that if Stokłosa was found guilty, he would be stripped of his Senatorial mandate. [19] He retired from national politics and didn't run again in the regular 2011 parliamentary election, engaging instead in local politics. [20]
By-elections were held in Constituency 47 (Mińsk Mazowiecki) on 7 September 2014 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Henryk Górski's term, who passed away on 19 May 2014. [21]
![]() | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | +/– | |
Maria Koc | Law and Justice | 9,832 | 58.35 | +19.53 | |
Dariusz Jaszczuk | Civic Platform | 4,855 | 28.81 | +3.06 | |
Krzysztof Bosak | National Movement | 1,082 | 6.42 | − | |
Zbigniew Stąsiek | Democratic Left Alliance | 666 | 3.95 | − | |
Czesław Litwińczuk | Democratic Party – demokraci.pl | 226 | 1.34 | − | |
Józef Gorayski | Direct Democracy | 188 | 1.12 | − | |
Total | 16,849 | 100.00 | – | ||
Valid votes | 16,849 | 98.71 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 220 | 1.29 | |||
Total votes | 17,069 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 257,809 | 6.62 | |||
Law and Justice hold | |||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [22] [23] |
By-elections were held in Constituency 75 (Tychy) on 8 February 2015 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Elżbieta Bieńkowska's term, who was chosen as a member of the European Commission. [24]
![]() | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | +/– | |
Czesław Ryszka | Law and Justice | 8,541 | 56.57 | − | |
Michał Gramatyka | Civic Platform | 4,452 | 29.49 | −15.75 | |
Dariusz Dyrda | Silesian – Not Partisan | 2,104 | 13.94 | −18.41 | |
Total | 15,097 | 100.00 | – | ||
Valid votes | 15,097 | 98.85 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 175 | 1.15 | |||
Total votes | 15,272 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 207,932 | 7.34 | |||
Law and Justice gain from Civic Platform | |||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [25] |
By-elections were held in Constituency 59 (Białystok I) on 6 March 2016 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Bohdan Paszkowski's term, who was selected Voivode of Podlasie. [26]
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anna Maria Anders | Law and Justice | 30,661 | 47.26 | −2.39 | |
Mieczysław Bagiński | Polish People's Party | 26,618 | 41.03 | +13.36 | |
Jerzy Ząbkiewicz | Independent | 4,177 | 6.44 | − | |
Szczepan Barszczewski | Confederation for the Renewal of the Republic of Liberty and Hope | 1,992 | 3.07 | − | |
Sławomir Gromadzki | Ordinary Citizen | 764 | 1.18 | − | |
Andrzej Chmielewski | Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland | 669 | 1.03 | − | |
Total | 64,881 | 100.00 | – | ||
Valid votes | 64,881 | 99.41 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 384 | 0.59 | |||
Total votes | 65,265 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 381,382 | 17.11 | |||
Law and Justice hold | |||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [27] |
By-elections were held in Constituency 13 (Włocławek) on 21 July 2024 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Krzysztof Kukucki 's term, who was elected mayor of Włocławek in the 2024 local elections. [28]
![]() | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | +/– | |
Stanisław Pawlak | New Left | 9,888 | 46.30 | +0.25 | |
Jarosław Chmielewski | Righteous and Effective | 7,621 | 35.69 | −0.93 | |
Tomasz Sikorowski | Confederation New Hope | 3,846 | 18.01 | +8.30 | |
Total | 21,355 | 100.00 | – | ||
Valid votes | 21,355 | 98.96 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 224 | 1.04 | |||
Total votes | 21,579 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 271,454 | 7.95 | |||
New Left hold | |||||
Source: National Electoral Commission [29] |
Senator Bogdan Klich of PO resigned from the office of Senator to assume a diplomatic post. [30] His mandate prematurely expired on 17 November 2024, [31] triggering a by-election in Constituency 33 (Kraków). The election will take place on 16 March 2025. [32]
Turnout in Senate by-elections tends to be low, frequently falling under 10%. Between 1989 and 2014, the average turnout of Senate by-elections was 13.94%. Turnout tends to be higher when by-elections are held alongside regular elections. [33]
Bogdan Klich; mandat wygasł 17.11.2024 r.