Wednesday is the last day to submit candidates for MPs and senators before the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 15. According to the election calendar, election committees have until 4 p.m. to do so.
The list of candidates for MPs – in accordance with the Electoral Code – should be supported by the signatures of at least 5,000. voters permanently residing in a given constituency. An electoral committee that has submitted lists of candidates in at least half of the electoral districts may submit further lists without signatures.
In turn, the nomination of a candidate for senator should be supported by signatures of at least two thousand voters from a given constituency.
The signatures are verified by district election commissions. Not only is their number checked, but also whether they were submitted by voters from a given constituency.
In addition, it is checked whether the lists in elections there are at least 35% of the votes in the Sejm. women and at least 35 percent men and whether all candidates meet the age criterion – only a Polish citizen with the right to vote who has reached the age of 21 on the election day may be a candidate for an MP. In the case of a senatorial candidate – it is 30 years.
The following persons cannot stand for election, among others: persons deprived of public rights, sentenced by a final judgment to imprisonment for an intentional crime prosecuted by public indictment or an intentional fiscal crime.
Main photo source: Łukasz Błasikiewicz/Chancellery of the Sejm