Elections to county council

ELECTIONS TO COUNTY 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 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 c.c. is determined, separately for each council, by the voivode, after consultation with the voivodship electoral commissioner. The number of councillors for each c.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 c.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 county electoral commission. In each electoral district created for the election of the c.c., three to ten councillors are elected. Elections to c.c. are conducted, under the supervision of the State Electoral Commission and electoral commissioners, by the county and the local electoral commissions. The lists of candidates, separately for each electoral district, are to be submitted to the county 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. The results of the elections are announced publicly by the county electoral commission, as soon as possible. In elections for councillors – in the elections to the council in the city with county rights and in the elections to c.c. – the proportional method of counting votes using the d’Hondt system is used. In cities with county rights, in districts of Warsaw, and in elections to the c.c., 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.