Senate by-elections in Poland

In Poland, in case of a premature expration 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.

Electoral system

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]

• death of the Senator
• loss of electability privilege or not possessing it at election day
• revocation of mandate by State Tribunal
• resignation from the mandate
• occupation of a position which is incompatible with the office of Senator
• assumption of the office of President of Poland, member of the European Parliament or any other office incompatible with the office of Senator

List of by-elections

1st term Senate (1989-1991)

Even during the first term of the newly-reestablished Senate, the possibility of a Senatorial term prematurely expiring was taken into consideration. Article 16 of the electoral ordinance to the Senate declared that by-elections must be held in the event of a Senatorial term ending early. ^[2]

Piotrków Constituency

By-elections were held in the Piotrków Voivodeship on 8 October 1989 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Grzegorz Białkowski  [ pl ]'s term, who died of a heart attack. ^{[3] [4]} Białkowski, despite being elected, died before being sworn in. ^[5]

Candidate	Votes	%
Piotr Andrzejewski  [ pl ]	43,080	65.07
Kazimierz Falak	10,711	16.18
Zygmunt Janowski	7,572	11.44
Stanisław Kersz	2,023	3.06
Mirosław Kaliszczak	1,819	2.75
Against all	996	1.50
Total	66,201	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	464,767	–
Source: National Electoral Commission [6]

Opole Constituency

By-elections were held in the Opole Voivodeship on 4 February 1990, with a runoff on 18 February 1990, to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Edmund Osmańczyk's term, who died on 4 October 1989. ^[7]

Candidate	First round		Second round
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Dorota Simonides	76,592	35.66	258,135	67.07
Henryk Kroll	84,601	39.39	124,498	32.35
Józef Pietrzykowski  [ pl ]	33,951	15.81
Jerzy Bobrowski  [ pl ]	17,265	8.04
Against all	2,387	1.11	2,213	0.58
Total	214,796	100.00	384,846	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	705,462	–	705,702	–
Source: National Electoral Commission [8] [9]

Lublin Constituency

By-elections were held in the Lublin Voivodeship on 27 May 1990, with a runoff on 10 June 1990, to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Adam Stanowski  [ pl ]'s term, who died on 7 February 1990. ^[10]

Candidate	First round		Second round
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Jerzy Kłoczowski	91,848	40.51	47,320	50.93
Roman Wierzbicki  [ pl ]	79,540	35.08	44,705	48.11
Janusz Jurek  [ pl ]	28,447	12.55
Marian Fuszara	19,487	8.59
Against all	7,407	3.27	891	0.96
Total	226,729	100.00	92,916	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	728,740	–	728,823	–
Source: National Electoral Commission [11] [12]

3rd term Senate (1993-1997)

Chełm Constituency

By-elections were held in Chełm Voivodeship on 19 June 1994 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Tomasz Adamczuk's term, who died.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Piotr Miszczuk  [ pl ]	Democratic Left Alliance	16,384	27.79
	Elżbieta Rysak  [ pl ]	Polish People's Party	13,244	22.46
	Jerzy Masłowski  [ pl ]	Center-Right Agreement	10,894	18.47
	Janusz Korzcyński	Independent	9,946	16.87
	Maria Chodyńska	Sovereignist Agreement "Chełmszczyzna"	8,499	14.41
Total			58,967	100.00
Valid votes			58,967	93.77
Invalid/blank votes			3,915	6.23
Total votes			62,882	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			178,806	35.17
	Democratic Left Alliance gain from Polish People's Party
Source: National Electoral Commission [13]

Elbląg Constituency

By-elections were held in Elbląg Voivodeship on 19 June 1994 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Romuald Jankowski's term, who died.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Stanisław Kochanowski  [ pl ]	Polish People's Party	24,337	24.32
	Edmund Krasowski  [ pl ]	Independent	22,487	22.47
	Wacław Bielecki	Solidarity	11,247	11.24
	Andrzej Nowosielski	Elbląg Land Electoral Committee	9,476	9.47
	Sylwester Kalinowski	Independent	8,950	8.94
	Janina Krukowska	Independent	8,916	8.91
	Krzysztof Niewdźwiedzki	Labour Union	8,434	8.43
	Krzysztof Wójcik	Confederation of Independent Poland	6,211	6.21
Total			100,058	100.00
Valid votes			100,058	93.22
Invalid/blank votes			7,277	6.78
Total votes			107,335	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			339,012	31.66
	Polish People's Party hold
Source: National Electoral Commission [13]

Szczecin Constituency

By-elections were held in Szczecin Voivodeship on 1 October 1995 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Bodo Engling  [ pl ]'s term, who resigned.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Artur Balazs  [ pl ]	Szczecin Convention	34,159	49.26
	Bogusław Liberadzki	Democratic Left Alliance	23,071	33.27
	Lech Pruchno-Wróblewski  [ pl ]	Szczecin Voivodeship Electoral Committee	9,135	13.17
	Piotr Baumgart  [ pl ]	Szczecin Region Electoral Electoral Committee "Conscience"	2,986	4.31
Total			69,351	100.00
Valid votes			69,351	97.80
Invalid/blank votes			1,557	2.20
Total votes			70,908	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			714,418	9.93
	Christian-Peasant Party gain from Democratic Left Alliance
Source: National Electoral Commission [14]

Wrocław Constituency

By-elections were held in Szczecin Voivodeship on 1 October 1995 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Henryk Rot  [ pl ]'s term, who died.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Kazimierz Działocha	Democratic Left Alliance	13,869	26.07
	Bolesław Winiarski  [ pl ]	Sovereignist-Patriotic Coalition "Our Poland"	13,545	25.46
	Franciszek Połosmi  [ pl ]	Freedom Union	11,261	21.17
	Zbigniew Ślązak	Real Politics Union	5,448	10.24
	Edward Czapiewski  [ pl ]	Independent	4,124	7.75
	Krystyna Nowicka	Labour Union	2,802	5.27
	Leszek Bubel  [ pl ]	Forum for Fighting Lawlessness	1,141	2.14
	Janusz Zagórski  [ pl ]	New Civilization Forum "Pyramid"	1,012	1.90
Total			53,202	100.00
Valid votes			53,202	98.66
Invalid/blank votes			720	1.34
Total votes			53,922	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			832,492	6.48
	Democratic Left Alliance hold
Source: National Electoral Commission [14]

4th term Senate (1997-2001)

Katowice Constituency

By-elections were held in Katowice Voivodeship on 25 June 2000 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of August Chełkowski's term, who had died. ^[15]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Adam Graczyński  [ pl ]	Democratic Left Alliance	39,310	42.98
	Wacław Marszewski	Solidarity Electoral Action	36,488	39.89
	Jacek Soska  [ pl ]	Polish People's Party	7,567	8.27
	Elżbieta Postulska	KPEiR—KPN Ojczyzna	4,542	4.97
	Andrzej Roczniok  [ pl ]	Real Politics Union	3,558	3.89
Total			91,465	100.00
Valid votes			91,465	97.49
Invalid/blank votes			2,357	2.51
Total votes			93,822	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			2,955,901	3.17
	Democratic Left Alliance gain from Solidarity Electoral Action
Source: National Electoral Commission [16]

Szczecin Constituency

By-elections were held in Katowice Voivodeship on 25 June 2000 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Marian Jurczyk's term, whose mandate was invalidated by a verdict of the Warsaw Court of Appeals  [ pl ], which accused him of making false lustration statements on 3 April. ^{[17] [18]} On 12 April, the Senate debated and voted, with 42 for, 20 against, and 12 abstentions, to recognize the revocation of Jurczyk's mandate. ^{[19] [20]}

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Zbigniew Zychowicz	Democratic Left Alliance	26,034	53.93
	Marek Tałasiewicz  [ pl ]	Szczecin Electoral Convention	16,887	34.98
	Stefan Oleszczuk  [ pl ]	Real Politics Union	2,099	4.35
	Maciej Kopeć  [ pl ]	Electoral Committee Fatherland	2,057	4.26
	Zenon Iwanszkiewicz	Independent	1,195	2.48
Total			48,272	100.00
Valid votes			48,272	96.97
Invalid/blank votes			1,508	3.03
Total votes			49,780	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			747,765	6.66
	Democratic Left Alliance gain from Independent
Source: National Electoral Commission [16]

Wrocław Constituency

By-elections were held in Wrocław Voivodeship on 25 June 2000 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Bogdan Zdrojewski's term, who resigned to maintain his position as mayor of Wrocław following a Constitutional Tribunal verdict that ruled that Senatorial and mayoral mandates could not be held simultaneously. ^{[21] [22]}

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Marian Noga  [ pl ]	Democratic Left Alliance	18,122	37.13
	Adolf Juzewnko  [ pl ]	Independent	15,060	30.86
	Antoni Stryjewski  [ pl ]	Friends of the Polish Family	9,902	20.29
	Henryk Czekierda	Polish People's Party	2,702	5.54
	Emil Antoniszyn  [ pl ]	National Party of Retirees and Pensioners	1,276	2.61
	Czesław Kosik	Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland	1,049	2.15
	Stanisław Helski  [ pl ]	Independent	691	1.42
Total			48,802	100.00
Valid votes			48,802	99.21
Invalid/blank votes			391	0.79
Total votes			49,193	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			862,852	5.70
	Democratic Left Alliance gain from Independent
Source: National Electoral Commission [16]

Chełm Constituency

By-elections were held in Chełm Voivodeship on 21 January 2001 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Marian Cichosz  [ pl ]'s term, who resigned. ^[23]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Adam Rychliczek  [ pl ]	Polish People's Party	8,229	40.65
	Ryszarda Mardoń	Democratic Left Alliance	6,765	33.41
	Wiesław Kociuba	Independent	3,372	16.66
	Henryk Lewczuk	Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland	1,880	9.29
Total			20,246	100.00
Valid votes			20,246	98.61
Invalid/blank votes			286	1.39
Total votes			20,532	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			188,354	10.90
	Polish People's Party hold
Source: National Electoral Commission [24]

Wrocław Constituency

By-elections were held in Wrocław Voivodeship on 21 January 2001 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Leon Kieres' term, who resigned. ^[25]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Bogusław Litwiniec	Democratic Left Alliance	18,015	46.42
	Marek Muszyński	Solidarity Electoral Action	17,737	45.70
	Leopold Gomułkiewicz	Coalition for Poland	3,057	7.88
Total			38,809	100.00
Valid votes			38,809	99.00
Invalid/blank votes			391	1.00
Total votes			39,200	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			870,086	4.51
	Democratic Left Alliance gain from Independent
Source: National Electoral Commission [24]

5th term Senate (2001-2005)

Constituency 2 (Wałbrzych)

By-elections were held in Constituency 2 (Wałbrzych) on 27 April 2003 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Henryk Gołębiewski's term, who was selected Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. ^[26]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Mirosław Lubiński  [ pl ]	Democratic Left Alliance – Labour Union	7,960	38.14
	Tomasz Feliks Wójcik  [ pl ]	League of Polish Families	7,086	33.96
	Wacław Dziendziel  [ pl ]	Polish People's Party	4,685	22.45
	Ryszard Dudek	Independent	1,137	5.45
Total			20,868	100.00
Valid votes			20,868	98.30
Invalid/blank votes			360	1.70
Total votes			21,228	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			569,053	3.73
	Democratic Left Alliance hold
Source: National Electoral Commission [27]

Constituency 23 (Białystok)

By-elections were held in Constituency 23 (Białystok) on 12 October 2003 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Adam Jamróz  [ pl ]'s term, who was chosen as a member of the Constitutional Tribunal. ^[28] Jurgiel became the second Senator of Law and Justice after Anna Kurska, with who he formed the Law and Justice Senatorial club.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Krzysztof Jurgiel	Law and Justice	18,198	35.29
	Marek Kaczyński  [ pl ]	League of Polish Families	10,635	20.62
	Krzysztof Bil-Jaruzelski	Democratic Left Alliance – Labour Union	10,516	20.39
	Mieczysław Bagiński	Polish People's Party	4,304	8.35
	Sławomir Zgrzywa	Civic Platform	3,050	5.91
	Tadeusz Klimowicz	Real Politics Union	2,121	4.11
	Andrzej Soroka	Democratic People's Party  [ pl ]	1,604	3.11
	Artur Milewski	Independent	736	1.43
	Mariusz Olszewski  [ pl ]	Alternative Labour Party	403	0.78
Total			51,567	100.00
Valid votes			51,567	97.60
Invalid/blank votes			1,268	2.40
Total votes			52,835	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			937,219	5.64
	Law and Justice gain from Democratic Left Alliance
Source: National Electoral Commission [29]

Constituency 36 (Konin)

By-elections were held in Constituency 36 (Konin) on 16 January 2005 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Ryszard Sławiński  [ pl ]'s term, who was chosen as a member of the National Broadcasting Council. ^[30]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Elżbieta Streker-Dembińska  [ pl ]	Democratic Left Alliance	3,909	21.20
	Jerzy Wojtaszek	League of Polish Families	3,207	17.39
	Piotr Florek  [ pl ]	Civic Platform	3,026	16.41
	Bożena Antczak-Połatyńska	Polish People's Party	2,344	12.71
	Jan Zastawny	Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland	1,947	10.56
	Wiesława Kowalska	"Self-governance"	1,704	9.24
	Ewa Zaleska  [ pl ]	Suwerenność-Praca-Sprawiedliwość  [ pl ]	1,283	6.96
	Izabela Wilk	Freedom Union	1,019	5.53
Total			18,439	100.00
Valid votes			18,439	97.89
Invalid/blank votes			397	2.11
Total votes			18,836	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			593,602	3.17
	Democratic Left Alliance hold
Source: National Electoral Commission [31]

6th term Senate (2005-2007)

Constituency 33 (Elbląg)

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. ^[32]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Władysław Mańkut  [ pl ]	Left and Democrats	4,026	31.49
	Antoni Czyżyk	Civic Platform	3,503	27.40
	Jolanta Szulc  [ pl ]	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 [33]

7th term Senate (2007-2011)

In 2010, five by-elections were held, three of which alongside the 2010 Polish presidential election as a result of the deaths of Senators Janina Fetlińska, Stanisław Zając and Krystyna Bochenek in the Smolensk air disaster.

Constituency 21 (Krosno)

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 died as a result of a ruptured aneurysm on 21 March 2008. ^{[34] [35]}

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  [ pl ]	Democratic Party – demokraci.pl	1,774	2.09	−
	Tadeusz Kaleniecki  [ pl ]	Polish Left	993	1.17	−
	Stanisław Sagan  [ pl ]	Alliance of Democrats	386	0.46	−
	Zygmunt Wrzodak	National Congress of Poland  [ pl ]	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 [36]

Constituency 15 (Płock)

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 died in the Smolensk air disaster. ^[37] It was held concurrently to the 2010 Polish presidential election.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Michał Boszko  [ pl ]	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 [38]

Constituency 21 (Krosno)

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 died in the Smolensk air disaster. ^[39] It was held concurrently to the 2010 Polish presidential election. PiS-endorsed independent ^[40] 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 [38]

Constituency 30 (Katowice)

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 died in the Smolensk air disaster. ^[41] It was held concurrently to the 2010 Polish presidential election.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Leszek Marian Piechota  [ pl ]	Civic Platform	244,899	59.84
	Zbigniew Zdónek	Polish Labour Party	82,788	20.23
	Adam Stach  [ pl ]	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 [38]

Constituency 37 (Piła)

By-elections were held in Constituency 37 (Piła) on 6 February 2011 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Piotr Głowski  [ pl ]'s term, who was elected mayor of Piła in the 2010 local elections. ^[42]

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, ^[43] but released on bail in December 2008. ^[44] 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, ^[45] and was the first to register. ^[46] Besides him, three more parties registered candidates: PO nominated Maria Janyska, SLD nominated Zbigniew Ajchler  [ pl ] and PSL nominated Leszek Łochowicz. PiS also tried to nominate a candidate but failed to gather enough signatures. ^[47] 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. ^[48] 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  [ pl ]	Independent	15,057	39.90	− [c]
	Maria Janyska	Civic Platform	11,156	29.56	+0.28 [d]
	Zbigniew Ajchler  [ pl ]	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 [49]

According to sociologist Rafał Drozdowski  [ pl ], the low turnout of only 6.31% contributed to Stokłosa's victory. ^[50] After the election, Marshal of the Senate Bogdan Borusewicz stated that if Stokłosa was found guilty, he would be stripped of his Senatorial mandate. ^[51] He retired from national politics and didn't run again in the regular 2011 parliamentary election, engaging instead in local politics. ^[52]

8th term Senate (2011-2015)

Constituency 73 (Rybnik)

By-elections were held in Constituency 73 (Rybnik) on 21 April 2013 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Antoni Motyczka  [ pl ]'s term, who died. ^[53]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	+/–
	Bolesław Piecha	Law and Justice	7,769	28.48	+6.30
	Józef Makosz  [ pl ]	Independent	5,345	19.59	+4.72
	Mirosław Duży	Civic Platform	4,913	18.01	−16.10
	Paweł Polok	Autonomy for Silesia	3,578	13.12	−8.80
	Grażyna Kohut	Polish People's Party	2,280	8.36	−
	Janusz Korwin-Mikke	Congress of the New Right	2,160	7.92	−
	Krzysztof Sajewicz	Democratic Left Alliance	775	2.84	−
	Piotr Masłowski  [ pl ]	Independent	459	1.68	−
Total			27,279	100.00	–
Valid votes			27,279	99.18
Invalid/blank votes			226	0.82
Total votes			27,505	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			246,795	11.14
	Law and Justice gain from Civic Platform
Source: National Electoral Commission [54]

Constituency 55 (Mielec)

By-elections were held in Constituency 55 (Mielec) on 8 September 2013 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Władysław Ortyl  [ pl ]'s term, who was selected Marshal of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. ^[55]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	+/–
	Zdzisław Pupa	Law and Justice	35,640	60.84	+11.67
	Mariusz Kawa	Civic Platform—Polish People's Party	12,495	21.33	−15.20
	Kazimierz Ziobro  [ pl ]	Solidarity Poland	6,494	11.09	−
	Ewa Kantor  [ pl ]	Independent	1,617	2.76	−
	Ireneusz Dzieszko	Right-Wing of Podkarpacie	1,318	2.25	−
	Andrzej Marciniec	Poland Comes First	772	1.32	−
	Józef Habrat	Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland	247	0.42	−
Total			58,583	100.00	–
Valid votes			58,583	98.37
Invalid/blank votes			971	1.63
Total votes			59,554	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			375,985	15.84
	Law and Justice hold
Source: National Electoral Commission [56]

Constituency 47 (Mińsk Mazowiecki)

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  [ pl ]'s term, who died on 19 May 2014. ^[57]

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 [58] [59]

Constituency 73 (Rybnik)

By-elections were held in Constituency 73 (Rybnik) on 7 September 2014 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Bolesław Piecha's term, who was elected to the European Parliament. ^[60]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	+/–
	Izabela Kloc	Law and Justice	11,146	48.56	+20.08
	Marek Krząkała	Civic Platform	9,665	42.11	+24.10
	Maciej Urbańczyk	Congress of the New Right	1,218	5.31	−1.60
	Piotr Chmielowski  [ pl ]	Democratic Left Alliance	922	4.02	+2.47
Total			22,951	100.00	–
Valid votes			22,951	98.94
Invalid/blank votes			246	1.06
Total votes			23,197	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			245,829	9.44
	Law and Justice hold
Source: National Electoral Commission [58]

Constituency 82 (Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski)

By-elections were held in Constituency 82 (Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski) on 7 September 2014 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Beata Gosiewska's term, who was elected to the European Parliament. ^[61]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	+/–
	Jarosław Rusiecki	Law and Justice	10,098	37.04	−0.48
	Kazimierz Kotowski  [ pl ]	Polish People's Party	9,737	35.71	+13.06
	Zbigniew Pacelt	Civic Platform	3,817	14.00	−
	Kazimierz Jesionek  [ pl ]	Democratic Left Alliance	1,950	7.15	−9.83
	Czesław Litwińczuk	Congress of the New Right	1,338	4.91	−
	Józef Gorayski	Direct Democracy	325	1.19	−
Total			27,265	100.00	–
Valid votes			27,265	98.28
Invalid/blank votes			476	1.72
Total votes			27,741	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			349,660	7.93
	Law and Justice hold
Source: National Electoral Commission [58]

Constituency 75 (Tychy)

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. ^[62]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	+/–
	Czesław Ryszka  [ pl ]	Law and Justice	8,541	56.57	−
	Michał Gramatyka	Civic Platform	4,452	29.49	−15.75
	Dariusz Dyrda  [ pl ]	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 [63]

9th term Senate (2015-2019)

Constituency 59 (Białystok I)

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. ^[64]

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 [65]

11th term Senate (2023-incumbent)

Constituency 13 (Włocławek)

By-elections were held in Constituency 13 (Włocławek) on 21 July 2024 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Krzysztof Kukucki  [ pl ]'s term, who was elected mayor of Włocławek in the 2024 local elections. ^[66] The election sparked controversy in the ruling coalition as the incumbent mayor of Włocławek defeated by Kukucki, Marek Wojtkowski, belonged to the Civic Platform, and Kukucki to the New Left. The Senate Pact debated whether Kukucki's replacement should be a member of a party different from his own. Ultimately, the New Left was allowed to field its own candidate, Stanisław Pawlak  [ pl ], without opposition from the rest of the governing coalition. ^[67] Pawlak won the election with 46.3% of valid votes.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	+/–
	Stanisław Pawlak  [ pl ]	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 [68]

Constituency 33 (Kraków IV)

By-elections were held in Constituency 33 (Kraków IV) on 16 March 2025 to fill a vacancy left by the premature expiration of Bogdan Klich's term, who resigned from office to assume a diplomatic post. ^{[69] [70]} The Confederation's candidate, Adam Berkowicz, was the father of Konrad Berkowicz. ^[71] Monika Piątkowska of the Civic Coalition won the election, successfully holding the seat for her party. At the same time, her margin was lower than Klich's by 20 percentage points despite the seat being a stronghold of the Civic Coalition. Political observers called the outcome a "bittersweet victory" for the Civic Coalition, and attributed the underwhelming margin to competition from the Together Party, the refusal of Poland 2050, a coalition partner of Civic Coaliton, to endorse Piątkowska, as well as the fact that Piątkowska is not well-known in Kraków, and was nominated by the party leadership contrary to the wishes of the party's local branch. ^[72]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	+/–
	Monika Piątkowska	Civic Coalition [e]	25,022	50.14	−20.76
	Mateusz Małodziński  [ pl ]	For Kraków	15,675	31.41	+2.31
	Adam Berkowicz	Confederation	5,223	10.47	−
	Ewa Sładek	Together Party	3,982	7.98	−
Total			49,902	100.00	–
Valid votes			49,902	99.47
Invalid/blank votes			265	0.53
Total votes			50,167	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			303,678	16.52
	Civic Coalition hold
Source: National Electoral Commission [74]

Analysis

Turnout in Senate by-elections tends to be low, frequently falling under 7%. 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, ^[75] and turnout for by-elections only neared 50% (reaching 47%, 49%, 53% in three constituencies respectively) when held alongside the 2010 Presidential election. ^[76] In contrast to the apathy expressed in by-elections by the populace, political parties show high interest in them. By-elections tend to show trends in political support, however are often flawed as a political barometer. Costs of by-elections vary within the range of half to two million PLN. ^[76]

Notes

1. Only results of Andrzej Mazurkiewicz in 2007
2. Only results of Wacław Posadzki in 2007
3. New; 17.13% in last election he contested (2005)
4. Only results of Piotr Głowski in 2007
5. Endorsed by PSL, NL and SDPL ^[73]

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