2015 Polish referendum

A three-part referendum was held in Poland on 6 September 2015.^[1] Voters were asked whether they approved of introducing single-member constituencies for Sejm elections, maintaining state financing of political parties and introducing a presumption in favour of the taxpayer in disputes over the tax law.^[2]

The voter turnout of 7.80 percent was well below the 50-percent threshold required for the referendum results to be legally binding.^[3]

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Background

The referendums were ordered by President Bronisław Komorowski, who had promised to hold a referendum on the electoral system after the first round of the presidential elections,^[4] Although he had been leading in the polls, Komorowski received fewer votes (33.77%) than his main opponent Andrzej Duda (34.76%) in the first round. However third-placed candidate Paweł Kukiz received 20.8% of the vote, campaigning on introducing single-member constituencies for Sejm elections.^[5] A day after the May elections, Komorowski made an instantaneous decision to hold the referendum. Justifying his initiative, he explained that he saw high support for Kukiz as a signal that voters wanted changes.

Questions

The referendum asked voters the following three yes-or-no questions:

1. Are you in favour of introducing single-member constituencies in elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland?^[a]
2. Are you in favour of maintaining the current method of financing of political parties from the national budget?^[b]
3. Are you in favour of introducing a general rule of resolving doubts regarding the interpretation of taxation law in favour of the tax-payer?^[c][2]

Results

Question	For		Against		Invalid/ blank	Total	Registered voters	Turnout	Outcome
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Single-member constituencies	1,829,995	78.75	493,935	21.25	60,850	2,384,780	30,565,826	7.80	Failed to meet quorum
Maintaining state financing of political parties	404,515	17.37	1,923,994	82.63	56,271				Failed to meet quorum
Tax law interpretation	2,194,689	94.51	127,395	5.49	62,696				Failed to meet quorum
Source: PKW

Notes

1. In Polish: Czy jest Pani/Pan za wprowadzeniem jednomandatowych okręgów wyborczych w wyborach do Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej?
2. In Polish: Czy jest Pani/Pan za utrzymaniem dotychczasowego sposobu finansowania partii politycznych z budżetu państwa?
3. In Polish: Czy jest Pani/Pan za wprowadzeniem zasady ogólnej rozstrzygania wątpliwości co do wykładni przepisów prawa podatkowego na korzyść podatnika?

References

1. Referendum set for 6 September Radio Poland, 18 June 2015
2. Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 17 czerwca 2015 r. o zarządzeniu ogólnokrajowego referendum [Decision of the President of the Republic of Poland of 17 June 2015 ordering a nationwide referendum], Dz. U., 2015, No. 852 (2015-06-17)
3. Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 7 września 2015 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku referendum przeprowadzonego w dniu 6 września 2015 r. (Announcement of the National Electoral Commission of 7 September 2015 on the results of the vote and the result of the referendum held on 6 September 2015)
4. Poland president will back referendum to change political system to be like Westminster The Telegraph, 10 May 2015
5. Hartliński, Maciej (2015). "The 2015 Referendum in Poland" (PDF). East European Quarterly.