page_title: Elections in Poland
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Elections in Poland / History
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Gmach Sejmu od strony ul. Piotra Maszyńskiego
context_page_description: Elections in Poland refers to the election process as well as the election results in Poland. Poland has a multi-party political system. On the national level, Poland elects the head of state – the president – and a legislature. There are also various local elections, referendums and elections to the European Parliament.
  Poland has a long history of public elections dating back several centuries, beginning with the elections to Sejm in Łęczyca in 1182. Notably, since the Sejm of 1493, Polish kings were obliged to call regular Sejms and regional elections every two years. From 1573 until 1795 the state system of elective monarchy in Poland required the royal elections of monarchs as well during the Sejm proceedings.
  The first modern and free elections in 20th-century Poland were held in 1919, two months after the country regained independence in 1918 after over a century of partition and occupation by foreign powers. After the Second World War, Poland fell into the Soviet sphere of influence as a satellite state and became controlled by the communists, who rigged the elections of 1947 to ensure they controlled the entire Polish government.
context_section_description: The first Polish Sejm was called in 1182. Since the Sejm of 1493, called by king John I Olbracht in 1493, Sejms were to be held every 2 years. There were also special Sejms when needed, for example the coronation sejms.
  The most famous Sejms included the Sejm Niemy or the Silent Sejm of 1717 which marked the beginning of Russian control over Polish internal affairs; the subsequent Repnin Sejm or the Sejm of 1767/1768, whose terms were dictated by the Russian ambassador Repnin; the Great Sejm – or the Four-Years Sejm of 1798–1792, which voted for the May Constitution of Poland; and the Grodno Sejm – last Sejm of the First Republic.
  Since the death of Sigismund II Augustus, last of the Jagiellonian dynasty, and following a brief period of interregnum, the entire nobility (szlachta) of the Commonwealth (10% of the population) could take part in the elections of the monarchs. Last elected king was Stanisław August Poniatowski in 1764. He abdicated in 1795 after the partitions 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-free pl:Wybory brzeskie. Polish presidents were elected by the Sejm and Senate (Zgromadzenie Narodowe), not in a popular vote. Before 1922, the Polish Chief of State was called Naczelnik Państwa.
  Only the 1947 and 1989 elections can be considered as partially free. All others were controlled. There were no presidential elections during the rest of this period, with President Bolesław Bierut's nomination by the Sejm and the abolition of the office by the 1952 constitution.
caption: Sejm and Senate Complex of Poland
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