Submission of candidates for elections to the Sejm and the Senate. Selected issues Cover Image

Zgłaszanie kandydatów w wyborach do Sejmu i Senatu. Wybrane problemy
Submission of candidates for elections to the Sejm and the Senate. Selected issues

Author(s): Piotr Uziębło
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Electoral systems
Published by: Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe
Keywords: lists of candidates; submission of candidates for parliamentary elections; election committees

Summary/Abstract: In this article the author analyzes the procedure of submission of lists of candidates for deputies to the Sejm and for senators to the Senate regarding the principle of free elections and other democratic standards. Considering that generally election code regulations fulfill these standards, he also indicates some disadvantages in Code regulations. These defects relate primarily required number of at least 5,000 signatures of voters who permanently reside in a given electoral constituency to submit lists of candidates to the Sejm in that constituency and 2,000 signatures for registering a candidate for senator. The author also critically refers to the legally required number of candidates on the constituency lists in the elections to the Sejm. The number of candidates for deputies to the Sejm submitted by the constituency list may not be lower than the number of seats in that constituency. Electoral committees of smaller political parties and election committees of voters in practice have problems with fulfilling this condition. Another imperfections of the Code is lack of procedure for judicial review of decisions of the election administration to refuse to register the list and also the difficulty of effectively verifying the authenticity of signatures of voters supporting the submission of lists of candidates.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 20
  • Page Range: 35-54
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Polish