2024 Polish local elections
Local elections were held in Poland on 7 April 2024 to elect members for all 16 regional assemblies, 314 county councils, and 2477 municipal councils, heads of municipalities and mayors of cities, as well as 18 district councils of Warsaw. While Law and Justice remained the strongest party, the Civic Coalition and its partners saw some improvement, providing them with majorities in up to 11 of the 16 regional assemblies. The second round to elect heads of municipalities, mayors and city presidents was held on 21 April in places where no candidate obtained more than 50% of votes.
Background
2018 Polish local elections
In the previous local elections held in autumn 2018, Law and Justice, Poland's ruling party at the time, won the most votes in the regional assembly elections, allowing it to take power in eight of the 16 voivodeships, mainly in eastern and southern Poland. The runner-up, the centrist-liberal Civic Coalition, received 27% of the vote, which allowed it to maintain control over 8 voivodeships, together with its coalition partners: the agrarian Polish People's Party, the Democratic Left Alliance and, in the Opole Voivodeship, the German Minority. Mayoral elections in large cities were won by KO candidates or opposition-backed independents, notably in Warsaw, where Rafał Trzaskowski defeated PiS candidate Patryk Jaki in the first round, winning 57% of the vote. Both PiS and the opposition claimed victory in the elections.As of March 2024, PiS controls 6 regional assemblies, while KO with its coalition partners holds 10.
Extension of the terms of office of local authorities
The current legislation in Poland, enacted in 2018, stipulates that the term of office of local authorities is five years from the date of election. As the previous election was held in the autumn of 2018, the next election would have to be held in the autumn of 2023, and would coincide with the election of the parliament, whose term of office was expiring in November of that year.In September 2022, a new legislation was passed by the parliament, exceptionally extending the terms of office of local authorities until 30 April 2024. The lawmakers indicated that the extension of the term of office was necessary to avoid the organisational problems associated with holding local and parliamentary elections at approximately the same time. The regulation was criticized by the, a voluntary association of regional governments, the Union of Polish Cities, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the National Council of Legal Advisers, as well as by experts of the Senate Legislation Bureau. Critics have pointed out, among other things, that the act may violate fundamental constitutional principles. They also questioned the legitimacy of concerns about the simultaneous organisation of local and parliamentary elections, and pointed out that the act does not address these problems systemically, only incidentally.
The act was signed into law by President Andrzej Duda on 22 November 2022.
2023 Polish parliamentary election
The parliamentary election held on 15 October 2023 saw the record turnout of over 74%. The ruling Law and Justice party received the highest number of votes, but lost its ability to form a majority government. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki subsequently failed to form a coalition, and on 13 December a new government was formed under Donald Tusk, made up of the hitherto opposition parties: Civic Coalition, Poland 2050, Polish People's Party and the New Left.Electoral system
The members of the voivodeship sejmiks, county councils, municipal councils for municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, and Warsaw district councils are elected proportionally using the D'Hondt method. Each voivodeship, county, municipality, and district is divided into multiple constituencies. Each voivodeship sejmik constituency elects between 5 and 15 councilors, each county council constituency elects between 3 and 10 councilors, and each municipal council and Warsaw district constituency elects between 5 and 8 councilors. Parties or coalitions are required to receive 5% of valid votes throughout the entire voivodeship, county, municipality or district in order to be eligible to earn seats.Municipalities with 20,000 inhabitants or fewer are divided into 15 constituencies, each of which elects 1 councilor using first-past-the-post.
Heads of municipalities, mayors, and city presidents are directly elected in each municipality using the two-round system.
Electoral committees
A total of 11,202 committees were registered for the elections. 41 committees applied for nationwide registration by the National Electoral Commission, of which 35 have been registered: 21 political parties, nine organizations, three coalitions and two voters committees. Four committees were rejected and one committee retracted its registration.| Type | Committee | Status | Sejmiks | Powiat councils | Gmina councils | Mayors | Warsaw district councils | |
| 1 | Coalition | Civic Coalition | ||||||
| 2 | Party | Nonpartisan Local Government Activists | ||||||
| 3 | Party | Normal Country | ||||||
| 4 | Organization | Association Citizens and Justice | ||||||
| 5 | Party | Slavic Union | ||||||
| 6 | Party | Repair Poland Movement | ||||||
| 7 | Organization | National Polish Federation "Nonpartisans and Local Government Activists" | ||||||
| 8 | Party | Self-Defence | ||||||
| 9 | Organization | Trade Union of Polish Agriculture Free and Solidary | ||||||
| 10 | Organization | Local Government Coalition OK Self-Government | ||||||
| 11 | Party | People's Party "Patrimony" RP | ||||||
| 12 | Party | Law and Justice | ||||||
| 13 | Party | Silesians Together | ||||||
| 14 | Coalition | The Left | ||||||
| 15 | Party | PolExit | ||||||
| 16 | Organization | Safe Next Generation – Safe Civic Generation | ||||||
| 17 | Organization | Association "Nonpartisan Local Government Activists" | ||||||
| 18 | Voters | Confederation and Nonpartisan Local Government Activists | ||||||
| 19 | Voters | Local Government Coalition OK Self-Government | ||||||
| 20 | Party | Right Wing of the Republic | ||||||
| 21 | Party | Liberal Poland – Entrepreneurs' Strike | ||||||
| 22 | Party | Sovereign Poland | ||||||
| 23 | Party | Free and Solidary | ||||||
| 24 | Organization | Association Nonpartisan and Independent | ||||||
| 25 | Coalition | Third Way PSL-PL2050 of Szymon Hołownia | ||||||
| 26 | Voters | Renewal of the Republic of Poland | ||||||
| 27 | Organization | Democratic Left Association | ||||||
| 28 | Party | Movement of Unity of Poles | ||||||
| 29 | Party | Labour Faction | ||||||
| 30 | Party | Self-Defence RP | ||||||
| 31 | Voters | Agreement Serves People – Third Way | ||||||
| 32 | Party | Pro-Polish Confederation | ||||||
| 33 | Party | Normal Poland | ||||||
| 34 | Party | Free Europe | ||||||
| 35 | Party | Nonpartisans | ||||||
| 36 | Organization | Healthy Poland | ||||||
| 37 | Voters | It's High Time | ||||||
| 38 | Party | People's Party "Patrimony" RP | ||||||
| 39 | Organization | Renewal of the Republic of Poland | ||||||
| 40 | Party | Polska 2050 | ||||||
| 41 | Voters | Public Control |
Campaigning
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that a victory for the ruling Civic Coalition is necessary to prevent a return to nationalist rule by the Law and Justice Party, and portrayed its electoral campaign as a defense of "freedom, human rights, women's rights, democracy, free economy, self-government". Law and Justice denied such accusations throughout the campaign, with its leader Jarosław Kaczyński accusing the government of lying and calling the election an opportunity to present it with a "yellow card".Results
Exit polls showed that Law and Justice won 33.7% and the Civic Coalition won 31.9% in elections to the regional assemblies. The Third Way coalition was projected to win 13.5%, the Left 6.8% and the Confederation party 7.5%.Results also showed that the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, won an outright victory in the first round, as did the mayor of Gdańsk, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz. Winners were also proclaimed in the first round for mayoral races in Bydgoszcz, Lublin, Opole, Białystok, Katowice, Szczecin, and Łódź, while those in Wrocław, Toruń, Zielona Góra, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Kraków, Rzeszów. Olsztyn, Poznań and Kielce were to undergo a runoff. In the second round of elections held in 748 cities and towns on 21 April, the Civic Coalition won the mayoral elections in Kraków, Poznań, Wrocław, Rzeszów, Toruń, Zielona Góra and Legnica.
Voivodeship capital mayoral and council elections
''Bold – elected candidates''Warsaw
Warsaw Mayor'''Warsaw City Council'''
Kraków
Kraków Mayor'''Kraków City Council'''
Wrocław
Wrocław Mayor'''Wrocław City Council'''
Łódź
Łódź Mayor'''Łódź City Council'''
Poznań
Poznań Mayor'''Poznań City Council'''
Gdańsk
Gdańsk Mayor'''Gdańsk City Council'''
Szczecin
Szczecin Mayor'''Szczecin City Council'''
Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz Mayor'''Bydgoszcz City Council'''
Lublin
Lublin Mayor'''Lublin City Council'''
Białystok
Białystok Mayor'''Białystok City Council'''
Katowice
Katowice Mayor'''Katowice City Council'''
Toruń
Toruń Mayor'''Toruń City Council'''
Rzeszów
Rzeszów Mayor'''Rzeszów City Council'''
Kielce
Kielce Mayor'''Kielce City Council'''
Olsztyn
Olsztyn Mayor'''Olsztyn City Council'''
Gorzów Wielkopolski
Gorzów Wielkopolski Mayor'''Gorzów Wielkopolski City Council'''
Zielona Góra
Zielona Góra Mayor'''Zielona Góra City Council'''
Opole
Opole Mayor'''Opole City Council'''