Elections to municipality council

ELECTIONS TO MUNICIPALITY COUNCIL – they are universal, equal, direct and are conducted by secret ballot, as part of local-government elections, administered by the President of the Council of Ministers every four years, not earlier than four months and no later than three months before the term of office of the councils expires. The number of councillors elected to municipality councils (mun.c.) is determined, separately for each municipality, by the voivode, after consultation with the voivodship electoral commissioner. The number of councillors for each mun.c. is based on the number of residents residing in the area of activity of the council, included in the permanent register of voters, at the end of the year preceding the election year. If in the electoral district in the election to the m.c. the registered number of candidates is equal to or less than the number of mandates in a given electoral district – elections are not held and the nominated candidates become councillors by the decision of the municipal electoral commission. In each electoral district formed for the election of a council in a municipality that is not a city with county rights, one councillor is elected. In the city with county rights, electoral districts are created in which five to ten councillors are elected. Elections to m.c. are conducted by – under the supervision of the State Electoral Commission and electoral commissioners – the municipal and the local electoral commissions. The lists of candidates, separately for each electoral district, are to be submitted to the municipal electoral commission no later than on the 40th day before the day of election by midnight. Voting is conducted between 7am and 21pm on a non-working day, in case of election of the village mayor/mayor/president of the city it is possible to conduct another vote (the so-called second round) 14 days after the first vote within the same hours. The results of the elections are announced publicly by the municipal electoral commission, as soon as possible. For determining the elected councillors in the elections of a council in a municipality that is not a city with county rights, the majority of votes is used – candidates with the highest number of votes are mandated. In elections for the council in the city with county rights, the proportional method of counting votes using the d’Hondt system is used. In cities with county rights and in districts of Warsaw, a blocking clause (the so-called electoral threshold) is used – 5% of validly cast votes. Election protests should be submitted in writing to the competent district court within 14 days from the election day. The district court decides on the validity of the election of the local government body and of the election of individual councillors simultaneously with considering the election protest [ J. Wojnicki ].

Literature: Z. Bukowski, T. Jędrzejewski, P. Rączka, Ustrój samorządu terytorialnego [The system of local government], Toruń 2013 ■ K.W. Czaplicki et al., Kodeks wyborczy. Komentarz [Electoral Code. A commentary], Warszawa 2014.