At stake in this election:

• 100 seats in the Senat

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Marek BELKA
• 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 direct vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Senat 100 members are elected by majority vote to serve 4-year terms. In the Sejm 460 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 4-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Law and Justice (LJ) / Politiol juswisc (PiS)
  • Leader: Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 49
  • Seats won in last Senat election: 0
  • Seats won in this Sejm election: 155
  • Seats won in last Sejm election: 44
• Party: Civic Platform / (PO)
  • Leader: Donald TUSK
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 34
  • Seats won in last Senat election: 0
  • Seats won in this Sejm election: 133
  • Seats won in last Sejm election: 65
• Party: Self-Defense Party / Samoobrona (SO)
  • Leader: Andrzej LEPPER
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 3
  • Seats won in last Senat election: 2
  • Seats won in this Sejm election: 56
  • Seats won in last Sejm election: 53
• Party: Democratic Left Alliance / (SLD)
  • Leader: Wojciech OLEJNICZAK
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senat election: 75
  • Seats won in this Sejm election: 55
  • Seats won in last Sejm election: 216
• Party: League of Polish Families / (LPR)
  • Leader: Roman GIERTYCH
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 7
  • Seats won in last Senat election: 2
  • Seats won in this Sejm election: 34
  • Seats won in last Sejm election: 38
• Party: Polish Peasant Party / (PSL)
  • Leader: Waldemar PAWLAK
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 2
  • Seats won in last Senat election: 4
  • Seats won in this Sejm election: 25
  • Seats won in last Sejm election: 42
• Party: Other Parties*******
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 5
  • Seats won in last Senat election: N/A
  • Seats won in this Sejm election: 2
  • Seats won in last Sejm election: N/A

******* The others include the 2 seats reserved in the Sejm for minority groups in Poland.

Last Parliamentary election:

• Elections for both the Senate and the Sejm were last held on September 23, 2001.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 38,165,445 (2005)
• Registered Voters: 30,229,031 (August 2005)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 19,666,608 (2005)

·         Is Poland a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (29 May 1980)

·         Has Poland ratified CEDAW: Yes (30 July 1980)

·         Gender Quota: Yes 

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 94 (Sejm); 13 (Senate) following the 2005 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 36 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Poland a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Poland ratified CRPD: Yes (25 September 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 5,724,816 (est.)