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]
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:
- Are you in favour of introducing single-member constituencies in elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland?[a]
- Are you in favour of maintaining the current method of financing of political parties from the national budget?[b]
- 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 | ||||||||||||