Electoral system in the 2001-2007 elections for Senate
The 1991-1997 elections were conducted using the electoral system defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and in the Act Electoral Ordinance to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and to the Senate of the Republic of Poland. The electoral system for the Sejm has undergone significant changes compared to the one applied in the 1991-1997 period with regard to the structure of electoral districts.
The electoral system (in its narrower sense) consists of the following elements:
- The structure of the electoral districts (their number, boundaries and the number of seats to be distributed in each district),
- The manner in which the election results are determined (this is determined by the electoral formula and the elements contained therein such as the electoral method or the statutory electoral thresholds),
- The method of voting (in other words, the powers of the voter when voting - how many votes he or she has, whether he or she can accumulate them, etc.).
Structure of electoral districts
In the elections to the Senate of the Republic of Poland between 2001 and 2007, the area of the country was divided into 40 multi-mandate constituencies in which 100 senatorial seats were distributed. These constituencies, for the most part (with the exception of constituency 12 [Kraków] which included the area of Sejm constituencies 12 [Chrzanów] and 13 [Kraków]), overlapped with Sejm constituencies.
Between 2 and 4 senators were elected in the districts.
Significantly, the elections to the Senate did not implement the principle of equality (this principle did not apply to Senate elections in the constitutional provisions). The number of inhabitants per seat in each district varied widely.
The seats were divided in individual electoral districts on the basis of the number of votes obtained by candidates in a given district.
The votes of Polish citizens voting outside Poland were counted in Ward 18 (Warsaw).
The detailed distribution of seats between constituencies is shown in the table:
Electoral formula
Elections to the Senate of the Republic of Poland in the period 2001-2007 were conducted using a majority representation formula using the relative majority method in multi-mandate constituencies (block voting). The distribution of seats took place separately in each of the 40 electoral districts.
Method of voting
Each voter had votes equal to the number of senators elected in the district. He or she cast his or her votes for candidates of his or her choice from among those nominated in the district. A voter could not accumulate his votes (he could not, for example, cast all available votes for one candidate), but he was not obliged to use all the votes available to him. This was a growing problem in each successive election - an increasing proportion of voters used only one of their available votes. Candidates took their seats in the order of the number of votes obtained. If a seat became vacant, a by-election had to be held.
Maciej Onasz, based on: Onasz Maciej, Inżynieria wyborcza w Polsce od roku 1989, Łódź 2017; Ustawa z dnia 12 kwietnia 2001 r. Ordynacja wyborcza do Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej i do Senatu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Dz.U. 2001 nr 46 poz. 499 (z późn. zm.).
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