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 Jerzy BUZEK
• 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: Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)
  • Leader: Leszek MILLER
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 75
  • Seats won in last Senat election: 28
• Party: Self-Defense Party
  • Leader: Andrzej LEPPER
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 2
  • Seats won in last Senat election: N/A
• Party: Polish Peasant Party (PSL)
  • Leader: Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 4
  • Seats won in last Senat election: 3
• Coalition: Senate 2001 / Blok Senat 2001*
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 15
  • Seats won in last Senat election: N/A
• Other Parties
  • Seats won in this Senat election: 4
  • Seats won in last Senat election: N/A

*Senate 2001 includes Solidarity Electoral Action, Law and Justice, Civic Platform, Movement for Reconstruction of Poland, and Freedom Union.

Last Parliamentary election:

• Parliamentary elections were last held September 21, 1997.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 38,248,076 (2001)
• Registered Voters: 29,364,455 (2001)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 19,685,338 (2001)

·         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: 93 (Sejm); 23 (Senate) following the 2001 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: 5,737,211 (est.)