2015 Polish referendum

Poland 6 September 2015 2015 Polish referendum voting ballot.png Ballot paper Are you in favour of introducing single-member constituencies in elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland? Yes 78.75 No 21.25 Are you in favor of maintaining the current system of financing political parties from the state budget? Yes 17.37 No 82.63 Are you in favour of introducing a general rule of resolving doubts regarding the interpretation of taxation law in favour of the tax-payer? Yes 94.51 No 5.49 Referendum failed because the required voter turnout of 50% of eligible voters was not reached. A three-part referendum was held in Poland on 6 September 2015.Referendum set for 6 September Radio Poland, 18 June 2015 Voters were asked whether they approved of introducing single-member constituencies for Sejm elections, maintaining state financing of political parties and introducing a presumption in favour of the taxpayer in disputes over the tax law. Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 17 czerwca 2015 r. o zarządzeniu ogólnokrajowego referendum Decision of the President of the Republic of Poland of 17 June 2015 ordering a nationwide referendum 2015 852 2015-06-17 The voter turnout of 7.80 percent was well below the 50-percent threshold required for the referendum results to be legally binding,Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 7 września 2015 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku referendum przeprowadzonego w dniu 6 września 2015 r. (Announcement of the National Electoral Commission of 7 September 2015 on the results of the vote and the result of the referendum held on 6 September 2015) making it the lowest turnout for any referendum in Europe since 1945.2015-09-08 Historyczne referendum: Tak niskiej frekwencji nie było w Europie od 1945 roku https://www.gazetaprawna.pl/wiadomosci/artykuly/892694,historyczne-referendum-tak-niskiej-frekwencji-nie-bylo-w-europie-od-1945-roku.html 2025-06-22 www.gazetaprawna.pl pl Background The referendums were ordered by President Bronisław Komorowski, who had promised to hold a referendum on the electoral system after the first round of the presidential elections,Poland president will back referendum to change political system to be like Westminster The Telegraph, 10 May 2015 Although he had been leading in the polls, Komorowski received fewer votes (33.77%) than his main opponent Andrzej Duda (34.76%) in the first round, and then lost to Andrzej Duda in II round 48.5% to 51.5%.2015-05-23 Poland election: President Komorowski loses to rival Duda https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32862772 2025-06-21 BBC News en-GB However third-placed candidate Paweł Kukiz received 20.8% of the vote, campaigning on introducing single-member constituencies for Sejm elections.Hartliński Maciej 2015 The 2015 Referendum in Poland https://politicalscience.ceu.edu/sites/politicalscience.ceu.hu/files/attachment/basicpage/1096/maciej.hartlinski_0.pdf East European Quarterly A day after the May elections, Komorowski made an instantaneous decision to hold the referendum. Justifying his initiative, he explained that he saw high support for Kukiz as a signal that voters wanted changes.Bankier.pl Piotr Szulczewskianalityk 2015-05-11 Komorowski chce referendum ws. JOW-ów, finansowania partii i systemu podatkowego https://www.bankier.pl/wiadomosc/Komorowski-chce-referendum-ws-JOW-ow-finansowania-partii-i-systemu-podatkowego-3338775.html 2025-06-21 Bankier.pl pl Referendum On May 21, 57 senators present voted in favor of holding the referendum. However, 43 senators did not participate in the vote, the largest group among them being representatives of the Law and Justice party (PiS).2015-05-22 20–21 maja 2015 r. https://www.senat.gov.pl/diariusz/posiedzenia-senatu/art,7961,2021-maja-2015-r-.html 2025-06-22 Senat.gov.pl The Law and Justice party, followed later by KORWiN, as well as Zjednoczona Lewica called for the inclusion of additional questions in the referendum.2015-07-01 PiS chce, by prezydent rozszerzył referendum; Komorowski odsyła do inicjatywy poselskiej http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/warszawa/pis-chce-by-prezydent-rozszerzyl-referendum-komorowski-odsyla-do-inicjatywy/xzt6z7 https://web.archive.org/web/20150704002419/http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/warszawa/pis-chce-by-prezydent-rozszerzyl-referendum-komorowski-odsyla-do-inicjatywy/xzt6z7 2015-07-04 2025-06-21 Onet Wiadomości pl-PL2015-07-02 Partia KORWiN do prezydenta: dopisać do referendum trzy kolejne pytania https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/partia-korwin-do-prezydenta-dopisac-do-referendum-trzy-kolejne-pytania-6025261491278465a 2025-06-22 Wiadomości WP2015-08-20 Twój Ruch • Zjednoczona Lewica apeluje o dopisanie pytań do referendum http://twojruch.eu/zjednoczona-lewica-apeluje-o-dopisanie-pytan-do-referendum/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150927121804/http://twojruch.eu/zjednoczona-lewica-apeluje-o-dopisanie-pytan-do-referendum/ 2015-09-27 2025-06-22 Twój Ruch pl-PL On August 21, President Andrzej Duda submitted to the Senate a draft decree scheduling an additional referendum for October 25 (the date of parliamentary elections). This referendum was to cover issues including the retirement age, the operation of state forests, and the compulsory schooling of six-year-olds. https://www.senat.gov.pl/download/gfx/senat/pl/senatdruki/7220/druk/1054.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20220814005428/https://www.senat.gov.pl/download/gfx/senat/pl/senatdruki/7220/druk/1054.pdf 2022-08-14 2025-06-21 www.senat.gov.pl Polish Senate (incl. PO and PSL senators) rejected that proporsal.www.ideo.pl ideo - Senatorowie / Sylwetki / Senat Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej https://www.senat.gov.pl/sklad/senatorowie/szczegoly-glosowania,165,1,8.html https://web.archive.org/web/20240420215600/https://www.senat.gov.pl/sklad/senatorowie/szczegoly-glosowania,165,1,8.html 2024-04-20 2025-06-21 www.senat.gov.pl pl A total of 133 entities were registered as eligible to conduct campaign activities, including 94 associations, 34 foundations, and 5 political parties. Additionally, 24 organizations were classified as ineligible.PKW Referendum Ogólnokrajowe 2015 http://referendum2015.pkw.gov.pl/328_Podmioty_uprawnione https://web.archive.org/web/20180804114430/http://referendum2015.pkw.gov.pl/328_Podmioty_uprawnione 2018-08-04 2025-06-22 referendum2015.pkw.gov.pl Total cost of the referendum was 71,575,097 PLN (€16,8 M.).Tokaj Beata 5 February 2016 INFORMACJA o wydatkach z budżetu państwa poniesionych na przygotowanie i przeprowadzenie referendum ogólnokrajowego w dniu 6 września 2015 r. https://referendum2015.pkw.gov.pl/pliki/1454674153_Informacja%20o%20wydatkach_Referendum%202015.pdf Questions The referendum asked voters the following three yes-or-no questions: Are you in favour of introducing single-member constituencies in elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland? Are you in favor of maintaining the current system of financing political parties from the state budget? Are you in favour of introducing a general rule of resolving doubts regarding the interpretation of taxation law in favour of the tax-payer? Ballot paper The ballot paper read: EXPLANATIONS Providing a positive answer "YES" indicates consent, while providing a negative answer "NO" indicates lack of consent: for the introduction of single-member electoral districts in elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (response to the first question); for maintaining the current method of financing political parties from the state budget (response to the second question); for the direct inclusion in the Tax Ordinance Act of a principle stating that in case of legal doubt, authorities are obliged to resolve such doubts in favor of the taxpayer (response to the third question). INFORMATION The voter answers each question by marking an "X" (two intersecting lines within the box) in the box next to the positive answer "YES" or in the box next to the negative answer "NO". Marking an "X" in both boxes for a given question or failing to mark either box makes the vote on that question invalid. Opinion polls Stance on referendum questionsAll results are shown as percentages, except for the sample size. All results are shown as percentages, except for the sample size. Date(s)conductedPolling firm/LinkSample sizeQuestion no. 1Question no. 2Question no. 3Turnout YES NO Don't knowYESNODon't knowYESNODon't know 24 Aug Millward Brown / "Fakty" TVN 1,003 6228919 756 9044 55%17–24 AugCBOS1,040 41221914 737 76411 52%1–8 JulCBOS1,044 45162513 759 81411 62%11–17 JunCBOS1,011 54181615 756 8258 60%8–9 JunTNS Polska / TVP1,000 60202019 738 9046 76%22–23 MayIBRiS / Rzeczpospolita– 61201915 7411 8839 51% Knowledge about the referendum +BY DECISION OF PRESIDENT BRONISŁAW KOMOROWSKI, WITH THE CONSENT OF THE SENATE, A NATIONWIDE REFERENDUM WILL BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 6 OF THIS YEAR. DO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THIS REFERENDUM WILL BE ABOUT?All results are shown as percentages, except for the sample size. All results are shown as percentages, except for the sample size.Date(s)conductedPolling firm/LinkSample sizeDefinitely yesRather yesRather no Definitely noHard to say / refusal to answer17–24 AugCBOS1,040 22 29212711–8 JulCBOS1,0442029 19 31111–17 JunCBOS1,0111722 22 363 Results Due to the fact that voter turnout did not exceed half of those eligible to vote, in accordance with Article 125, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the result of the referendum was not binding.THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND OF 2nd APRIL, 1997 https://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/angielski/kon1.htm 2025-06-21 www.sejm.gov.pl In November 2015, the Supreme Court confirmed the validity of the referendum. However, the voting in one of the districts in Siemianowice Śląskie was invalidated due to mixing up the answers "yes" and "no" on the third question.2015-11-19 Uchwała Sądu Najwyższego z dnia 4 listopada 2015 r. w sprawie ważności referendum ogólnokrajowego przeprowadzonego w dniu 6 września 2015 r. https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20150001920 2025-06-22 isap.sejm.gov.pl SejmSąd Najwyższy stwierdził ważność referendum ogólnokrajowego przeprowadzonego 6 września 2015 r. - Sąd Najwyższy https://www.sn.pl/aktualnosci/SitePages/komunikaty_o_sprawach.aspx?ItemSID=75-271e0911-7542-42c1-ba34-d1e945caefb2&ListName=Komunikaty_o_sprawach&rok=2015 2025-06-22 www.sn.pl Later, the National Electoral Commission (PKW) corrected the results.2015-11-23 OBWIESZCZENIE PAŃSTWOWEJ KOMISJI WYBORCZEJ z dnia 23 listopada 2015 r. https://referendum2015.pkw.gov.pl/pliki/1448283904_ObwieszczeniePKW23112015.pdf 2025-06-22 pkw.gov.pl PKW QuestionForAgainstInvalid/blankTotalRegisteredvotersTurnoutOutcomeVotes%Votes%Single-member constituencies1,829,99578.75493,93521.2559,1112,383,04130,565,8267.80Failed to meet quorumMaintaining state financing of political parties404,51517.371,923,99482.6354,532Failed to meet quorumTax law interpretation2,194,68994.51127,3955.4960,957Failed to meet quorumSource: National Electoral Commission Notes References Referendum Category:Referendums in Poland Poland Category:Electoral reform referendums Category:Electoral reform in Poland Referendum