Chapter 7

1. The right to submit lists of candidates for deputies to the Sejm shall be vested in parties, political and social organizations, and also in voters. Electoral activities shall be performed, on behalf of parties and political and social organizations, by organs authorized to represent them in legal transactions. As regards voters, electoral activities on their behalf shall be performed by election committees constituted by them.

2. Parties and organizations referred to in para. 1 may form an election coalition in order to submit joint lists of candidates for the deputies to the Sejm. Electoral activities on behalf of a coalition shall be performed by an election committee created for this purpose.

3. The provisions of the Act of 27th June 1997 on Political Parties (Dziennik Ustaw, No. 98, item 604) - with the exception of the provisions concerning the registration of political parties - and the provisions of other statutes concerning the activity of political parties shall accordingly be applicable to the election committees referred to in para. 1.

4. The election committee referred to in para. 2, shall have legal personality within the scope of performance of tasks resulting from laws.

5. A subject which has created an election committee referred to in paras. 1 and 2 shall dissolve it and immediately notify such fact to the National Electoral Commission.

6. The term "election committee", used in the Act means also the statutory organs of parties and organizations referred to in para. 1.

1. An election committee may submit one constituency list of candidates for deputies to the Sejm in each constituency, hereinafter called a "constituency list", and one national list of candidates for deputies to the Sejm, hereinafter called a "national list".

2. A candidate may stand for election in one constituency from one constituency list and from one national list.

3. No candidate may stand for election as deputy to the Sejm and for election to the Senate at the same time.

1. A constituency list shall be supported by the signatures of at least 3000 voters residing permanently in a given constituency.

2. An election committee which, fulfilling the requirements specified in para. 1, has registered constituency lists in at least half of all constituencies, shall be entitled to submit further lists without the support of voters' signatures.

3. The requirement of support by voters' signatures, for the submission of a constituency list shall not apply to the election committee of a party, organization or election coalition which immediately after previous elections had notified the Presidium of the Sejm of the existence of a club of at least 15 deputies.

4. The submission of constituency lists by election committees, fulfilling the requirements referred to in paras. 2 and 3, shall be done on the basis of a certificate issued by the National Electoral Commission following application by the relevant election committee and which was made no later than the 40th day before the election day. The Presidium of the Sejm shall transmit the information referred to in para. 3 to the National Electoral Commission within 10 days following the day on which the elections were ordered.

5. In the event of dissolution of the Sejm, the provisions of para. 3 shall apply to those election committees which, on the day of the dissolution of the Sejm, satisfied the condition specified therein.

1. A constituency list shall be submitted to the constituency electoral commission no later than the 40th day before the election day.

2. The number of candidates on such list shall be no less than 3 and no more than twice the total number of deputies to be elected in a given constituency.

3. The submission of a constituency list shall be made in writing by an agent of an election committee or a person authorized by him, hereinafter called "an agent". A document issued by an election committee, stating the appointment of the agent of an election committee and specifying his surname, forename and precise address, shall be enclosed with each submission.

4. If the submission of the constituency list is done by a person authorized by the agent of election committee, the provisions of para. 3 shall apply accordingly.

1. The submission of a constituency list shall include:

2. In the submission, the agent may indicate the short name of the election committee, which shall be used to denote the registered list on official announcements and on the ballot paper.

3. The agent may also make application that a denotation of individual candidates be made within the list with the name or short name of a party or organization supporting a given candidate (not exceeding 40 printed characters). Such application shall be filed with the submission of the list.

4. In the case of an election committee set up by voters, each candidate shall be denoted by a name or a short name of a party with which he is affiliated. The provisions of para. 3 shall be applied accordingly.

5. The following shall be enclosed with each list submitted:

6. The name, short name and graphic emblem of an election committee set up by voters or election coalition shall have the benefit of the legal protection provided in relation to personal rights.

1. The name, short name and emblem of an election committee referred to in Article 81 shall be sufficiently distinguished from the names, short names and emblems of other election committees.

2. If, after the receipt of the list submitted, another list has been submitted which includes the same or an insufficiently differentiated name or short name of an election committee, the electoral commission shall specify such fact as a defect in the submission and shall grant a 3-day time-limit for removal of the defect. In the event that such defect has not been removed within the time-limit, the commission shall refuse to register the list.

3. The commission shall declare as defective, pursuant to the procedure specified in para. 2, any submission of a list by an election committee whose name does not include the name and short name of the party or organization creating such committee.

1. A constituency electoral commission shall immediately register the constituency list submitted pursuant to the provisions of this Act, having made an official record of registration. A copy of such record shall be served on the agent and another shall be delivered to the National Electoral Commission.

2. If the submission is defective, the commission shall summon the agent to have such defect removed within 3 days. If the defect has not been removed within the time-limit, the commission shall refuse to register the list as a whole or in respect of individual candidates. In the event of refusal of registration in respect of some candidates, the list shall be registered to the degree not subject to refusal, provided that the provisions of Article 80 para. 2 have been complied with.

3. A decision of the constituency electoral commission, referred to in para. 2 and Article, 82 paras. 2 and 3, shall be immediately delivered to the agent. The agent shall have the right to appeal against such decision to the National Electoral Commission within the time-limit of 3 days of the date of its delivery. There shall be no legal recourse against the decision in the appeal.

1. The National Electoral Commission shall fix by random selection, no later than the 35th day before the election day and on the basis of the records of registration of constituency lists, a national number for each list of an election committee which has been registered in more then one constituency. The agents shall be informed about the date of the selection.

2. The lists of election committees referred to in Article 79, para. 3, provided that they have registered lists in all constituencies, shall participate in the selection of the first numbers. Thereafter, the numbers for the lists of other election committees which have registered their lists in all constituencies shall be selected. Numbers for the lists of remaining election committees shall be selected subsequently.

3. The National Electoral Commission shall immediately notify constituency electoral commissions and agents of the numbers selected for constituency lists.

1. After receipt of the notification referred to in Article 84, para. 3, the constituency electoral commission, shall conduct no later than the 17th day before the election day, taking into account the order of the numbers of lists fixed pursuant to Article 84, a selection of the numbers for the lists of those election committees which have registered lists only in a given constituency. The agents shall be informed about the date of the selection.

2. The constituency electoral commission shall immediately notify agents of the selected numbers for constituency lists referred to in para. 1.

1. The constituency electoral commission shall order the printing of an announcement concerning the constituency lists registered, including information on their numbers, names and short names of election committees and the details of candidates, included in submissions of lists, including the content of a statement, referred to in Article 6, para. 1, of the Act of 11th April 1997 on Disclosure of Work or Service in the Organs of State Security and Collaboration with such Organs in the years 1944-1990 by Persons Performing Public Functions (Dziennik Ustaw No. 70, item 443), in the part specified in Article 11, para.2 of that Act.

2. An announcement, referred to in para. 1, shall be delivered to the competent head of the voivodship electoral office, who shall ensure its printing and posting up within the constituency area, no later then on the 8th day before the election day. A copy of such announcement shall be immediately delivered to the National Electoral Commission.

1. The constituency electoral commission shall delete from the registered list the name of any candidate for deputy to the Sejm who has died, forfeited his eligibility or made a written statement of withdrawal of his acceptance to stand for election.

2. If the deletion of a candidate's name from the registered list shall have been done due to the candidate's death thereby causing the number of names of candidates on that list to become less then 3, then the commission shall inform the agent of the opportunity to nominate a new candidate. The list shall be supplemented no later then the 10th day before the election day.

3. If the deletion of a candidate's name from the list shall have resulted from a cause other than the candidate's death or the list has not been supplemented within the time-limit specified in para. 2, and the number of names of candidates remaining on the list is less than 3, the commission shall nullify the registration of the list. There shall be no legal recourse against a decision made in such case.

4. In the event of dissolution of an election committee, referred to in Article 77, para. 1 or 2, the constituency electoral commission shall nullify the registration of the lists of such a committee.

5. A constituency electoral commission shall immediately notify the agent, the National Electoral Commission and voters about the deletion of a candidate and any decisions referred to in paras. 2-4.

1. A voter may give written support to more than one constituency list. Withdrawal of support given shall be of no effect.

2. A voter giving support to a constituency list shall put his signature beside his legibly written surname and forename, address of residence and the number of his identity card or passport.

3. Each page of signatures shall include thereon the name of the election committee submitting the list, the number of the constituency in which the list is submitted and the signature of the agent.

4. A specimen document for voters' signatures shall be established by the National Electoral Commission.

1. The constituency electoral commission shall, when receiving the submission of a constituency list in the presence of an agent, verify the submission of the required number of voters. The commission shall number the signature sheets, stamp each of them with its own seal and give the agent an acknowledgement of the acceptance of the submission.

2. If the number of valid signatures submitted is lower than that statutorily required, the commission shall refuse to accept the submission, indicate the defects found and return the submitted signatures to the agent.

3. An agent may appeal against a decision referred to in para. 2, to the territorially competent voivodship court within a time-limit of 3 days of the date of delivery. The voivodship court, by bench of 3 judges, shall examine such appeal within a time-limit of 2 days in non-litigious proceedings. There shall be no legal recourse against a decision of the court.

4. The commission shall keep the accepted signature sheets in sealed packages. Access to such packages or the unsealing them shall be permitted only in the presence of a member of the electoral commission and for the purposes of legal proceedings; the agent shall be immediately notified of the times for such actions.

1. In the case of reasonable doubt as to the reliability of information included in the signatures or the credibility of signatures, the constituency electoral commission shall suspend the registration of such a constituency list and, within a time-limit of 3 days and in a manner of its own choosing, verify the information or the credibility of signatures by reference to officially accessible documents, including registers of voters and official registers of residents, and also - if necessary - by the voters' explanations. An agent shall be immediately notified of the suspension of registration of a list and the initiation of explanatory proceedings.

2. If, as a result of the investigation conducted, it is ascertained that the submitted list has failed to gain the statutorily required support by voters' signatures, then the commission shall refuse to register it and shall immediately notify the agent of such refusal.

3. A decision, specified in para. 2, may be the subject of an appeal to the territorially competent voivodship court lodged by the agent within a time-limit of 3 days of the date of delivery. The voivodship court, by a bench of 3 judges, shall examine the appeal within a time-limit of 3 days in non-litigious proceedings. The constituency electoral commission shall be immediately notified of the date of the proceedings. There shall be no legal recourse against a decision of the court.

1. The national list shall be submitted to the National Electoral Commission no later than the 20th day before the election day.

2. Any election committee which has registered its constituency lists in at least half of all constituencies, or which fulfills the requirements specified in Article 79, para. 3, shall be entitled to submit a national list.

3. An election committee of a national minority shall be entitled to submit its national list if it has registered its constituency list in at least 5 constituencies or fulfills the requirements specified in Article 79, para. 3.

4. The submission of a national list shall be made in writing by the agent. The submission shall include the name and address of the election committee, and the surname, the forename and precise address of the agent.

5. A national list shall consist of at least 69 candidates.

6. A national list may include only those candidates who have been registered on constituency lists of a given election committee. The numbers of constituencies in which the constituency lists have been registered shall be put adjacent to the names of the candidates.

1. The provisions of Article 83, paras. 1 and 2 and Article 87 shall apply respectively to the submission and registration of the national list. Any decision of the National Electoral Commission may be appealed to the Supreme Court, by an agent within the time-limit of 3 days of its delivery. The Supreme Court shall examine the appeal within a time-limit of 3 days in non-litigious proceedings, applying the appropriate provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure. There shall be no legal recourse against the decision of the Supreme Court.

2. If, as a result of the proceedings referred to in para. 1 of this Article and in Article 83, para. 3, Article 89, para. 3 and Article 90, para. 3, the election committee has fulfilled the requirements for entitlement to submit a national list, the National Electoral Commission shall accept the submission as if it had been submitted within the statutory time-limit.

1. The National Electoral Commission shall, after registration of national lists, make public, in the form of an announcement, information about the registered national lists, including their numbers, names and short names of election committees, the total number of candidates and information on the 69 candidates from each list, in particular the content of a statement, referred to in Article 6, para. 1, of the Act of 11th April 1997 on Disclosure of Work or Service in the Organs of State Security and Collaboration with such Organs in the years 1944-1990 by Persons Performing Public Functions (Dziennik Ustaw No. 70, item 443), in the part specified in Article 11, para.2 of that Act; The number of the constituency list, selected pursuant to the procedure referred to in Article 84 shall be the number of the national list.

2. The announcement referred to in para. 1 shall be made public no later then the 8th day before the election day, by publication in a daily newspaper with nationwide circulation and shall be delivered to all constituency electoral commissions.

1. An agent may appoint one poll observer to each district electoral commission on the territory of the constituency in which a constituency list submitted by him has been registered.

2. The agent shall issue to poll observers a certificate pursuant to a specimen provided by the National Electoral Commission.