Electoral system for the president

Poland, Constitution 1997 (amended in 2009), accessed 15 September 2019

ARTICLE 127

1. The President of the Republic shall be elected by the Nation, in universal, equal and direct elections, conducted by secret ballot.

2. The President of the Republic shall be elected for a 5-year term of office and may be re-elected only for one more term.

3. Only a Polish citizen who, no later than the day of the elections, has attained 35 years of age and has a full electoral franchise in elections to the Sejm, may be elected President of the Republic. Any such candidature shall be supported by the signatures of at least 100,000 citizens having the right to vote in elections to the Sejm.

4. A candidate who has received more than half of the valid votes shall be considered elected President of the Republic. If none of the candidates has received the required majority of votes, then a repeat ballot shall be held on the 14th day after the first vote.

5. The two candidates who have received the largest number of votes in the first ballot shall participate in a repeat ballot. If one of the two such candidates withdraws his consent to candidacy, forfeits his electoral rights or dies, he shall be replaced in the repeat ballot by the candidate who received the next highest consecutive number of votes in the first ballot. In such case, the date of the repeat ballot shall be extended by a further 14 days.

6. The candidate who receives the higher number of votes in the repeat ballot shall be elected President of the Republic.

7. The principles of and procedure for nominating candidates and conducting the elections, as well as the requirements for validity of the election of the President of the Republic, shall be specified by statute.