Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 13 October 2019. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The ruling right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) won re-election to a second term retaining its majority in the Sejm. However, it 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 first free elections after the fall of communism in 1989, though it was later surpassed by the 2023 parliamentary election. For the first time after 1989, the ruling party controlled one house, while the opposition controlled the other.

Background Following the 2015 parliamentary elections, the Law and Justice (PiS) party was able to form a majority government, after receiving 235 seats to the 138 won by their main competitor, Civic Platform, the first time in the post-communist era that a party had won an outright majority in parliamentary elections. Beata Szydło became Prime Minister on 16 November 2015 heading a cabinet that also included Solidary Poland and Poland Together, which ran on joint lists with Law & Justice.

On 23 December 2015, the Sejm passed a law, which reorganized the Constitutional Court, introducing a requirement for a two-thirds majority and the mandatory participation of at least 13, instead of 9 of the 15 judges. In addition, in early 2016 the PiS government passed a law which began the process of giving the government full control of state radio and television. In protest, the Committee for the Defence of Democracy, with help from the Modern party and Civic Platform, started demonstrations across the country.

In December 2016, a parliamentary crisis took place, after the Marshal of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński excluded a Civic Platform's MP Michał Szczerba from the Sejm's proceedings. In protest, members of the opposition occupied the Sejm's rostrum. The Marshal, unable to proceed in the main session chamber, moved the session to the smaller Column Hall. Some politicians and commentators supporting Law and Justice accused opposition of attempting a "coup d'état". It ended fruitlessly for the opposition, though the Modern party was disgraced, as its leader, Ryszard Petru, was photographed flying to Madeira, with fellow MP Joanna Schmidt, during the tense situation. Modern's opinion poll ratings fell as a result.

In December 2017, Mateusz Morawiecki succeeded Beata Szydło as Prime Minister.

On 6 December 2018, the Pro-Polish Coalition was formed - an alliance of KORWiN and the National Movement, with more parties joining later in order to contest the 2019 Elections to the European Parliament. The alliance later changed its name to just "Confederation".

In February 2019 the Wiosna party was founded as a left wing anticlerical party. For the 2019 European Parliament elections, the opposition formed a wide coalition, the European Coalition, with the exception of Wiosna. However, PiS won the European elections. Following the loss, the European Coalition dissolved and the Confederation lost many member parties and leaders. In June 2019 Modern and the Civic Platform formed a joint parliamentary club. August 6, the Left was formed, a de facto coalition of Razem, SLD and Wiosna, de jure carrying the SLD name. On August 8, 2019 PSL allied with Kukiz'15 in an alliance named "Polish Coalition".

Electoral system The 460 members of the Sejm are elected by open party-list proportional representation in 41 multi-member districts. Each district has between 7 and 20 seats.

Seats are allocated using the D'Hondt method, with a 5% threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (thresholds are waived for national minorities).

The Senate is elected using first-past-the-post voting in single-member districts. Candidates for Deputies are nominated either by the electoral committees of the various political parties and or by individual voter committees.

Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an absolute majority and could govern by itself, without a coalition partner.

The constitution can be amended with a supermajority of two-thirds, or 307 deputies.

Election date The date of the election, 13 October, was set by the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda.

The Constitution of Poland requires that the next election should take place on a non-working day, Sunday or national holiday, within the 30-day period before the expiry of the 4-year period beginning from the commencement of the current Sejm's and Senate's term of office.Constitution of Poland, Article 98, p. 2. Elections can be held earlier under certain conditions, for instance, if the Sejm is dissolved or if no government is formed in time limit set by the constitution.Constitution of Poland, Article 98, p. 5.

Since the former Sejm and Senate first sitting took place on 12 November 2015, possible dates were Sundays 13 October, 20 October, 27 October, 3 November and 10 November 2019. The other possible but unlikely dates were public holidays 1 November (All Saints' Day) and 11 November (Independence Day) 2019.

Lists Electoral committees registered in all constituencies List Ideology European Union position Leader Standing pre-campaign # of candidates Sejm Senate Sejm Senate 1 Polish Coalition• Polish People's Party• Kukiz'15• Union of European Democrats• Alliance of Democrats• Silesians Together• Poland Needs Us• One-PL Christian democracy, decentralization Pro-Europeanism Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz 919 16 2 Law and Justice• Agreement• United Poland• Republican Party• "Piast" Party• Free and Solidary National conservatism, Christian democracy Soft Euroscepticism Jarosław KaczyńskiMateusz Morawiecki 919 99 3 The Left• Democratic Left Alliance• Spring• Together• Your Movement• Polish Socialist Party Social democracy, progressivism Pro-Europeanism Włodzimierz Czarzasty 911 7 4 Confederation• KORWiN• National Movement• Confederation of the Polish Crown• Union of Christian Families• Party of Drivers• National League Right-libertarianism, Polish nationalism Hard Euroscepticism Janusz Korwin-MikkeRobert WinnickiGrzegorz Braun 881 7 5 Civic Coalition• Civic Platform• Modern• The Greens• Polish Initiative• Silesian Autonomy Movement• Social Democracy of Poland Liberalism, big tent Pro-EuropeanismGrzegorz SchetynaMałgorzata Kidawa-Błońska 920 73

Electoral committees registered in less than half of the constituencies List Ideology European Union position Leader Standing pre-campaign Number of constituencies # of candidates Sejm Senate Sejm Senate 6 Right Wing of the Republic Social conservatism, political Catholicism Soft Euroscepticism Bogusław Kiernicki 1 18 1 7 Action of Disappointed Retirees and Pensioners Pensioners' rights, solidarism Soft Euroscepticism Wojciech Kornowski 3 53 0 8 Coalition of Nonpartisan and Local Government Activists Decentralization, pro-single-member districts Pro-Europeanism Robert Raczyński 19 405 14 9 Skuteczni Classical liberalism, direct democracy Soft Euroscepticism Piotr Liroy-Marzec 5 75 0 10 German Minority German minority interests, regionalism Pro-Europeanism Ryszard Galla 1 24 2

Electoral committees with candidates only for the Senate Name Ideology European Union position Leader Candidates Sejm Senate Restore the Law Pro-single-member districts, populism Soft Euroscepticism Janusz Sanocki Skuteczni list 7 Polish Left Social democracy, third way Pro-Europeanism Jacek Zdrojewski 3 List of Mirosław Piotrowski to the Senate National Catholicism, Christian right Soft Euroscepticism Mirosław Piotrowski 3 Self-Defence Agrarian socialism, left-wing nationalism Hard Euroscepticism Lech Kuropatwiński 2 Unity of the Nation National conservatism, national Catholicism Soft Euroscepticism Gabriel Janowski 2 Silesians Together Localism, Silesian autonomism Pro-Europeanism Leon Swaczyna Polish Coalition list 2 List of Kukiz'15 to the Senate Pro-single-member districts, direct democracy Pro-Europeanism Paweł Kukiz Polish Coalition list 2 Other electoral committees with only one candidate Various 38

Campaign slogans

List Slogan in Polish Unofficial English translation Polish Coalition Łączymy Polaków We connect Poles Law and Justice Dobry czas dla Polski A good time for Poland The Left Łączy nas przyszłośćWybierz przyszłość The future unites usChoose the future Confederation Polska dla Ciebie Poland for you Civic Coalition Jutro może być lepsze;Współpraca, a nie kłótnie Tomorrow can be better;Cooperation, not quarrels Coalition of Nonpartisans and Local Government Activists Ty też jesteś bezpartyjny! You are also nonpartisan! Effective Odpowiedzialna Polska Responsible Poland German Minority Opolskie! Ma znaczenie Opole! It matters

Opinion polls

Results

Sejm

Party breakdown

By constituency Constituency Turnout PiS KO SLD PSL KWiN MN Others Lead%Seats%Seats%Seats%Seats%Seats%Seats1 – Legnica 57.80 42.406 25.023 16.432 7.171 5.850 - - 0.00 17.382 – Wałbrzych 55.83 40.544 32.093 12.351 7.250 5.420 - - 2.34 8.453 – Wrocław 65.89 34.675 32.805 15.412 7.451 6.461 - - 3.21 1.874 – Bydgoszcz 59.90 36.435 31.054 15.172 9.021 7.050 - - 1.29 5.385 – Toruń 56.37 40.386 26.424 14.832 10.881 6.330 - - 1.16 13.966 – Lublin 60.88 55.399 19.303 7.811 9.101 7.071 - - 1.32 36.097 – Chełm 54.40 59.508 14.802 6.831 11.861 5.840 - - 1.16 44.708 – Zielona Góra 57.20 34.30 4 31.274 15.612 11.631 7.191 - - 0.00 3.039 – Łódź 68.32 32.904 35.824 20.102 4.530 6.650 - - 0.00 2.9210 – Piotrków Trybunalski 61.81 56.21 6 15.641 10.951 10.441 6.760 - - 0.00 40.5711 – Sieradz 60.92 49.81 7 20.483 11.981 10.291 5.880 - - 1.56 29.3312 – Kraków I 62.86 53.48 6 23.042 8.510 7.900 7.060 - - 0.00 30.4413 – Kraków II 68.57 39.56 6 30.484 13.012 7.271 7.991 - - 1.69 9.0814 – Nowy Sącz 60.28 65.80 8 13.831 6.070 7.351 6.950 - - 0.00 51.9715 – Tarnów 60.47 59.59 7 14.001 5.940 13.351 7.110 - - 0.00 45.5916 – Płock 57.68 52.45 6 16.852 8.761 15.171 5.240 - - 1.53 35.6017 – Radom 60.84 57.82 6 17.152 7.430 10.201 5.890 - - 1.51 40.6718 – Siedlce 60.98 59.76 9 13.942 6.450 11.941 6.490 - - 1.42 45.8219 – Warsaw I 79.75 27.496 42.05 9 18.193 4.751 7.511 - - 0.00 14.5620 – Warsaw II 70.56 40.89 6 28.614 13.091 8.601 6.630 - - 2.19 12.2821 – Opole 52.91 37.64 5 26.714 11.741 10.311 5.700 7.901 0.00 10.9322 – Krosno 56.37 63.36 8 15.942 6.040 7.851 6.810 - - 0.00 47.4223 – Rzeszów 60.13 62.38 10 14.392 6.591 7.791 8.251 - - 0.60 47.9924 – Białystok 56.97 52.04 8 21.043 9.091 9.331 6.961 - - 1.55 31.0025 – Gdańsk 64.21 32.104 41.31 6 13.471 5.900 7.211 - - 0.00 9.2126 – Słupsk 62.79 36.435 35.85 5 12.472 7.941 7.301 - - 0.00 0.5827 – Bielsko-Biała I 64.91 46.765 27.203 11.481 7.130 7.420 - - 0.00 19.5628 – Częstochowa 61.22 44.284 22.632 15.591 8.680 6.070 - - 2.75 21.6529 – Katowice I 59.18 37.754 32.61 4 13.381 5.990 7.670 - - 2.61 5.14 60.41 48.28 5 27.713 9.681 5.640 7.170 - - 1.54 20.5731 – Katowice II 64.00 39.19 5 37.20 5 11.921 4.370 7.331 - - 0.00 1.9932 – Katowice III 62.99 37.13 4 29.663 21.902 4.850 6.450 - - 0.00 7.4733 – Kielce 57.70 55.18 10 16.653 9.951 9.881 5.951 - - 2.40 38.5334 – Elbląg 52.71 40.86 4 28.432 11.641 10.891 5.660 - - 2.52 12.4335 – Olsztyn 54.32 38.82 5 26.463 13.841 13.191 6.970 - - 0.71 12.3636 – Kalisz 59.67 42.48 6 24.723 13.432 12.801 6.570 - - 0.00 17.7637 – Konin 59.08 47.29 5 20.482 15.041 9.811 6.740 - - 0.64 26.8138 – Piła 59.11 35.64 4 30.603 13.281 13.861 6.620 - - 0.00 5.0439 – Poznań 73.13 25.333 45.38 5 16.492 6.200 6.610 - - 0.00 20.0540 – Koszalin 55.46 36.833 32.31 3 15.441 9.431 5.980 - - 0.00 4.5241 – Szczecin 59.36 35.114 35.71 5 15.252 7.401 6.530 - - 0.00 0.60 Poland 61.74 43.59 235 27.40134 12.5649 8.5530 6.8111 0.171 0.92 16.19Source: National Electoral Commission

Senate

By constituency