At stake in this election:      

• The office of President of Poland

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Bronisław KOMOROWSKI
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Ewa KOPACZ
• Assembly: Poland has a bicameral National Assembly (Zgromadzenie Narodowe) consisting of the Senat with 100 seats and the Sejm with 460 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.  If a candidate receives more than 50% of votes in the first round, there is no second round.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the Sejm.
• In the Senat 100 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms*. In the Sejm 460 members are elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.**

* There are 100 single-member constituencies

** There are 41 multi-member constituencies consisting of anywhere between 7 and 20 seats. Electors are required to cast a preferential vote for the candidate of their choice. All preferential votes are tabulated as votes for the candidate's party. There is a 5% threshold for parties and 8% threshold for coalitions. The threshold applies to the share of the total national vote, not the constituency. Candidates that belong to ethnic minorities are exempt from threshold requirements.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race[1]:

• Candidate: Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke
• Party: Congress of the New Right (Kongres Nowej Prawicy)
• Candidate: Bronisław Maria Komorowski
• Party: Independent
• Candidate: Adam Sebastian Jarubas
• Party: Polish Peasant Party/Polish People’s Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe)
• Candidate: Paweł Piotr Kukiz
• Party: Independent
• Candidate: Marian Janusz Kowalski
• Party: National Movement Party (Ruch Narodowy)
• Candidate: Jacek Wilk
• Party: Congress of the New Right (Kongres Nowej Prawicy)
• Candidate: Andrzej Sebastian Duda
• Party: Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, or PiS)
• Candidate: Janusz Marian Palikot
• Party: Your Movement (Twój Ruch)
• Candidate: Magdalena Agnieszka Ogórek
• Party: Democratic Left Alliance (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej)
• Candidate: Paweł Jan Tanajno
• Party: Direct Democracy (Demokracja Bezpośrednia)
• Candidate: Grzegorz Michał Braun
• Party: Independent

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 38,346,279 (2014 est.)[2]
• Registered Voters: 30,762,931 (2011)[3]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 19,794,560 (2014 est.)[4]
• Is Poland a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (29 May 1980)
• Has Poland ratified CEDAW: Yes (30 July 1980)[5]
• Gender Quota:  Yes, for the Sejm[6]
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 110 (24%) of 460 seats in the Sejm[7]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 35[8]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data[9]:

• Is Poland a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
• Has Poland ratified CRPD: Yes (25 September 2012)