Poland has amulti-party political system. On the national level, Poland elects thehead of state – the president – and a legislature. There are also variouslocal elections,referendums and elections to theEuropean Parliament.

Poland has a long history of public elections dating back several centuries, beginning with the elections toSejm inŁęczyca (known as the First Sejm) in 1182. Notably, since the Sejm of 1493, Polishkings were obliged to call regular Sejms and regional elections (sejmiks) every two years. From 1573 until 1795 the state system ofelective monarchy in Poland required theroyal elections of monarchs as well during the Sejm proceedings.^[1]

The first modern and free elections in 20th-century Poland were held in 1919, two months after the country regained independence in 1918 afterover a century of partition and occupation by foreign powers. After theSecond World War, Poland fell into the Soviet sphere of influence as asatellite state and became controlled by the communists, who rigged theelections of 1947 to ensure they controlled the entire Polish government. There were regular elections in Poland from that time on; however, no elections until thegroundbreaking elections of 1989, marking thefall of communism, were free. The Polish communists secured a majority of the lower house seats in 1989, but allowed opposition parties to take up seats.

The results of the June 1989 parliamentary elections:

Party or alliance				Constituency (competitive)			Constituency (reserved)			National list			Total seats	+/–
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth		Polish United Workers' Party				22,734,348	59.26	156	132,845,385	47.19	17	173	−72
			United People's Party				8,865,102	23.11	67	74,921,230	26.62	9	76	−30
			Democratic Party				3,961,124	10.32	24	24,814,903	8.82	3	27	−8
			PAX Association				1,216,681	3.17	7	24,269,761	8.62	3	10	+10
			Christian-Social Union				907,901	2.37	6	16,601,896	5.90	2	8	+8
			Polish Catholic-Social Association				681,199	1.78	4	8,029,911	2.85	1	5	+5
			Independents	4,937,750	21.42	0							0	−74
	Solidarity Citizens' Committee			16,433,809	71.28	161							161	+161
	Minor opposition			171,866	0.75	0							0	0
	Confederation of Independent Poland			122,132	0.53	0							0	0
Total				21,665,557	100.00	161	38,366,355	100.00	264	281,483,086	100.00	35	460	0

The first Polish Sejm was called in 1182. Since the Sejm of 1493, called by kingJohn I Olbracht in 1493, Sejms were to be held every 2 years. There were also special Sejms when needed, for example thecoronation sejms.^[1]

The most famous Sejms included theSejm Niemy or the Silent Sejm of 1717 which marked the beginning of Russian control over Polish internal affairs; the subsequentRepnin Sejm or the Sejm of 1767/1768, whose terms were dictated by the Russian ambassadorRepnin; theGreat Sejm – or the Four-Years Sejm of 1798–1792, which voted for theMay Constitution of Poland; and theGrodno Sejm – last Sejm of the First Republic.

Since the death ofSigismund II Augustus, last of theJagiellonian dynasty, and following a brief period ofinterregnum, the entirenobility (szlachta) of the Commonwealth (10% of the population) could take part in theelections of the monarchs. Last elected king wasStanisław August Poniatowski in 1764. Heabdicated in 1795 after thepartitions of Poland ended the existence of sovereign state of Poland for 123 years.

It is disputed how free were elections held after 1926; in particular, the 1930 elections are often considered to have been non-freepl:Wybory brzeskie. Polish presidents were elected by the Sejm and Senate (Zgromadzenie Narodowe), not in a popular vote. Before 1922, the PolishChief of State was calledNaczelnik Państwa.

Only the 1947 and 1989 elections can be considered as partially free. All others were controlled during that period. There were no direct presidential elections until 1990, with PresidentBolesław Bierut's nomination in 1947 by the Sejm and the abolition of the office by the 1952 constitution.

• 1st1573 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 2nd1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 3rd1587 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 4th1632 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 5th1648 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 6th1669 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 7th1674 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 8th1697 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 9th1704 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 10th1733 Polish–Lithuanian royal election
• 11th1764 Polish–Lithuanian royal election

• 1stPolish election, 1922 (9 Dec)
• 2ndPolish election, 1922 (20 Dec)
• 3rdPolish election, 1926 (May)
• 4thPolish election, 1926 (Jun)
• 5thPolish election, 1933
• 6thPolish election, 1947

• 1stPolish election, 1919
• 2ndPolish election, 1922
• 3rdPolish election, 1928
• 4thPolish election, 1930
• 5thPolish election, 1935
• 6thPolish election, 1938
• 7thPolish election, 1947
• 8thPolish election, 1952
• 9thPolish election, 1957
• 10thPolish election, 1961
• 11thPolish election, 1965
• 12thPolish election, 1969
• 13thPolish election, 1972
• 14thPolish election, 1976
• 15thPolish election, 1980
• 16thPolish election, 1985

Since 1991, Polish elections operate according to a typicalrepresentative democracy.

Poland has amulti-partypolitical system, with numerousparties in which no party often has any chance of gaining power by itself, and parties must work with each other to formcoalition governments.

Poland elects on national level ahead of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. TheNational Assembly has twochambers. The parliament (Sejm) has 460 members, elected for a four-year term byparty lists in multi-seatconstituencies with a 5% threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions, (requirement waived for national minorities). TheSenate (Senat) has 100 members elected for a four-year term via the first past-the-post system, with 100 single member constituencies. Prior to the 2011 parliamentary elections, elections to the Senate were conducted through plurality bloc voting in 40 multi-seatconstituencies. Since 1991, elections have been supervised byNational Electoral Commission (Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza), whoseadministrative division is called the National Electoral Office (Krajowe Biuro Wyborcze

1989 Parliamentary Election: thePolish Round Table Agreement produced a partly open parliamentary election. The June election produced aSejm (lower house), in which one-third of the seats went to communists and one-third went to the two parties which had hitherto been their coalition partners. The remaining one-third of the seats in the Sejm and all those in theSenate were freely contested; the majority of these were by candidates supported bySolidarity. Jaruzelski was elected by the Sejm asPresident of Poland.

TheMay 1990 local elections were entirely free. Candidates supported by Solidarity's Citizens' Committees won most of the elections they contested, although voter turnout was only a little over 40%. The cabinet was reshuffled in July 1990; the national defence and interior affairs ministers (hold-overs from the previous communist government) were among those replaced.

In October 1990, the constitution was amended to curtail the term of President Jaruzelski. In December,Lech Wałęsa became the first popularly elected President of Poland.

Poland'sfirst free parliamentary elections were held in 1991. More than 100 parties participated, representing the full spectrum of political views. No single party received more than 13% of the total vote.

After a rough start, thesecond group of elections were held in 1993, and the first parliament to serve a full term. TheDemocratic Left Alliance (SLD) received the largest share of votes.

After the election, the SLD andPolish People's Party (PSL) formed a governing coalition.Waldemar Pawlak, leader of the junior partner PSL, became prime minister, later replaced by SLD's leaderJózef Oleksy.

In November 1995, Poland held itssecond post-war free presidential election. SLD leaderAleksander Kwaśniewski defeated Wałęsa by a narrow margin—51.7% to 48.3%.

In 1997parliamentary elections two parties with roots in the Solidarity movement –Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) and theFreedom Union (UW) – won 261 of the 460 seats in the Sejm and formed a coalition government.Jerzy Buzek of the AWS became prime minister. The AWS and the Democratic Left Allianc (SLD) held the majority of the seats in the Sejm.Marian Krzaklewski was the leader of the AWS, andLeszek Miller led the SLD. In June 2000, UW withdrew from the governing coalition, leaving AWS at the helm of a minority government.

In thepresidential election of 2000,Aleksander Kwaśniewski, the incumbent former leader of the post-communistDemocratic Left Alliance (SLD), was re-elected in the first round of voting, with 53.9% of the popular vote. Second place, with only 17.3%, went toAndrzej Olechowski. It is thought^[who?] that the opposition campaign was hindered by their inability to put forward a charismatic (or even a single major) candidate, as well as falling support for the centre-rightSolidarity Electoral Action (AWS) government. This was related to internal friction in the ruling parliamentary coalition.

The1997 Constitution and the changed administrative divisions of 1999 required a revision of the electoral system, which was passed in April 2001. The most important changes included:

1. the final liquidation of the party list (previously, some of the members of parliament were elected from a party list, based on nationwide voter support, rather than from local constituencies),
2. modification of the method of allocating seats to theSainte-Laguë method, which gave less premium to large parties. The latter change was reverted to thed'Hondt method in 2002.

In theSeptember 2001 parliamentary elections, the SLD won on the back of voter disillusionment with the AWS government and internal bickering within that bloc. So much so that this former ruling party did not enter parliament, falling below the 8% threshold for coalitions (they had failed to form a formal political party, which has only a 5% threshold, and formally remained a "coalition" of parties).

The SLD formed a coalition with the agrarianPolish Peasant Party and leftistLabour Union (UP), withLeszek Miller as prime minister.

In the autumn of 2005 Poles voted in both parliamentary and presidential elections.September's parliamentary poll was expected to produce a coalition of two centre-right parties,Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) andCivic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska, PO). PiS eventually gained 27% of votes cast and became the largest party in the sejm ahead of PO on 24%. The out-going ruling party, the left-wingDemocratic Left Alliance (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD), achieved just 11%.Presidential elections in October followed a similar script. The early favourite,Donald Tusk, leader of the PO, saw his opinion poll lead slip away and was beaten 54% to 46% in the second round by the PiS candidateLech Kaczyński (one of the twins, founders of the party). Both elections were blighted by low turn-outs—only 51% in the second and deciding round of the presidential election, and just over 40% in the parliamentary election. The suggested cause of the low turnout is popular disillusionment with politicians.

In the October parliamentary elections, the Civic Platform (PO) won a stunning victory, the largest opposition party, which gained more than 41% of the popular vote. PiS's vote increased, from 2005, but insufficiently to gain reelection, whilst both Samoobrona and LPR were wiped out, losing all representation, each having gained only a little over 1% of the vote. PO proceeded to form a majority governing coalition with the agrarian Polish People's Party (PSL), with PO leader, Donald Tusk, taking over the prime ministerial office in November 2007.

On 10 April 2010, multiple members of the political elite were killed in theSmolensk air crash, includingLech Kaczyński, acting President of Poland.

At thepresidential election in 2010,Donald Tusk decided not to present his candidature, considered easily winning over PiS leaderJarosław Kaczyński. At POprimary elections,Bronisław Komorowski defeated the Oxford-educated Foreign MinisterRadosław Sikorski. At the polls, Komorowski defeatedJarosław Kaczyński, ensuring a PO dominance on all Polish political landscape.^[2]

In November 2010, local elections granted about 31 percent of the votes and PiS at 23 percent, an increase for the former and a drop for the latter compared to the 2006 elections. PO succeeded in winning four consecutive elections a record in post-communist Poland.^[2]

The parliamentary election to both theSejm and theSenate was held on 9 October 2011. The previous election, in 2007, resulted in aCivic Platform–Polish People's Party (PSL) government. All seats of both houses were up for re-election.

Civic Platform (PO), led by Prime MinisterDonald Tusk, was aiming for re-election: a feat that hadn't been achieved since Poland became a democracy. The PSL was previously the smaller partner to the Civic Platform in the governing coalition, and had said that it wished to continue this relationship after the election.^[3]

The parliamentary election to both theSejm and theSenate was held in October 2015. The previous election, in 2011, resulted in aCivic Platform–Polish People's Party (PSL) government. All seats of both houses are up for re-election.

The process of election for the Sejm is throughparty-list proportional representation via theD'Hondt method in multi-seatconstituencies,^[4] with a 5% threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (requirements waived for national minorities). The following coalition has been signed already: Law and Justice (PiS) between United Poland (SP) and Polska Razem (PR).

The2019 Polish parliamentary elections were held on 13 October 2019. All 460 members of theSejm and 100 senators of theSenate were elected. The rulingLaw and Justice (PiS) retained its majority in the Sejm, but 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 firstfree elections after the fall of communism in 1989.^[5] For the first time after 1989, the ruling party controls one house (Sejm) and opposition controls the second (Senate).

The2020 Polish presidential elections first round was held on 28 June 2020 and was completed with a second round of voting on 12 July 2020.

The 2023 Polish parliamentary election was held on October 15. Although PiS won the most seats, they lost their majority. A coalition of the Civic Coalition (KO), the Left, and the Third Way took power with KO leader Donald Tusk taking over as prime minister.

Results by party Results by coalition
Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	United Right		Law and Justice	6,286,250	29.11	157	−30
			Sovereign Poland	465,024	2.15	18	+8
			The Republicans	99,373	0.46	4	+3
			Kukiz'15[a]	74,959	0.35	2	New
			Independents	715,248	3.31	13	−8
		Total		7,640,854	35.39	194	−41
	Civic Coalition		Civic Platform	4,992,932	23.12	122	+20
			Modern	375,776	1.74	6	−2
			Polish Initiative	252,021	1.17	3	+1
			The Greens	67,392	0.31	3	0
			AGROunia	53,571	0.25	1	New
			Good Movement	8,254	0.04	0	New
			Independents[b]	879,645	4.07	22	+3
		Total		6,629,402	30.70	157	+23
	Third Way		Poland 2050[c]	1,561,542	7.23	33	New
			Polish People's Party[d]	1,189,629	5.51	28	+9
			Centre for Poland	70,117	0.32	3	+3
			Union of European Democrats	21,056	0.10	0	−1
			Independents and others	268,326	1.24	1	−9
		Total		3,110,670	14.41	65	+35
	The Left		New Left	1,199,503	5.55	19	−19
			Left Together	453,730	2.10	7	+1
			Independents and others	205,785	0.95	0	−5
		Total		1,859,018	8.61	26	−23
	Confederation		New Hope	551,901	2.56	6	+1
			Confederation[e]	341,188	1.58	7	+7
			National Movement	199,149	0.92	0	−5
			Confederation of the Polish Crown	182,573	0.85	2	+1
			Independents and others	268,985	1.25	3	+3
		Total		1,547,364	7.17	18	+7
	Nonpartisan Local Government Activists			401,054	1.86	0	0
	There is One Poland			351,099	1.63	0	New
	German Minority			25,778	0.12	0	−1
	Prosperity and Peace Movement			24,850	0.12	0	New
	Normal Country			4,606	0.02	0	New
	Anti-party			1,156	0.01	0	New
	Repair Poland Movement			823	0.00	0	New
Total				21,593,295	100.00	460	0
Valid votes				21,596,674	98.31
Invalid/blank votes				370,217	1.69
Total votes				21,966,891	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				29,532,595	74.38
Source: National Electoral Commission,[6][7]

• Electoral districts of Poland

• Andrzej Rzepliński."Niewolne wybory parlamentarne. Doświadczenie polskie 1947–1989" [Unfree parliamentary elections. The Polish Experience 1947–1989](PDF).Instytut Profilaktyki Społecznej i Resocjalizacji, IPSiR. Warsaw University.
• Groth, A.J. (December 1965). "Polish Elections 1919–1928".Slavic Review.24 (4). The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies:653–665.doi:10.2307/2492896.JSTOR 2492896.S2CID 163223573.

• GeoElections Poland 1.0: dataset of all general elections held in Poland between 1990 and 2024.
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Parties and elections
• Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza – National Electoral Commission(in Polish)
• Warsaw Consolidates the Countries of Eastern and Central Europe
• Jan Rokita: The Triumph of the Politician – Intellectual
• Kaczynski Brothers: Movie Stars That Turned Politicians
• Elections 2005: Brief Information About the Participants
• The Elections to the Polish Parliament (Sejm) 1919 – 1947 (results)

• Elections in Poland

• Webarchive template wayback links
• CS1 Polish-language sources (pl)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from December 2021
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases
• Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from April 2010
• Articles with Polish-language sources (pl)