View source for 2015 Polish referendum

{{Politics of Poland}}

A three-part referendum was held in [[Poland]] on 6 September 2015.<ref>[http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/210696,Referendum-set-for-6-September Referendum set for 6 September] Radio Poland, 18 June 2015</ref> Voters were asked whether they approved of introducing [[Single-member district|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.<ref name=Postanowienie>{{Cite Polish law | title = Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 17 czerwca 2015 r. o zarządzeniu ogólnokrajowego referendum | trans_title = Decision of the President of the Republic of Poland of 17 June 2015 ordering a nationwide referendum | year = 2015 | number  = 852 | date = 2015-06-17}}</ref>

The [[voter turnout]] of 7.80 percent was well below the 50-percent threshold required for the referendum results to be legally binding.<ref name=Obwieszczenie>[http://referendum2015.pkw.gov.pl/pliki/1441637773_Obwieszczenie.pdf 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)</ref>

==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 [[2015 Polish presidential election|presidential elections]],<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/11596277/President-of-Poland-Bronislaw-Komorowski-second-in-election-say-surprise-exit-polls.html Poland president will back referendum to change political system to be like Westminster] The Telegraph, 10 May 2015</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hartliński|first=Maciej|date=2015|title=The 2015 Referendum in Poland|url=https://politicalscience.ceu.edu/sites/politicalscience.ceu.hu/files/attachment/basicpage/1096/maciej.hartlinski_0.pdf|journal=East European Quarterly}}</ref> 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?{{efn|In Polish: ''Czy jest Pani/Pan za wprowadzeniem jednomandatowych okręgów wyborczych w wyborach do Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej?''}}
# Are you in favour of maintaining the current method of financing of political parties from the national budget?{{efn|In Polish: ''Czy jest Pani/Pan za utrzymaniem dotychczasowego sposobu finansowania partii politycznych z budżetu państwa?''}}
# Are you in favour of introducing a general rule of resolving doubts regarding the interpretation of taxation law in favour of the tax-payer?{{efn|In Polish: ''Czy jest Pani/Pan za wprowadzeniem zasady ogólnej rozstrzygania wątpliwości co do wykładni przepisów prawa podatkowego na korzyść podatnika?''}}<ref name=Postanowienie/>

==Results==
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:right
!rowspan=2|Question
!colspan=2|For
!colspan=2|Against
!rowspan=2|Invalid/<br />blank
!rowspan=2|Total
!rowspan=2|Registered<br />voters
!rowspan=2|Turnout
!rowspan=2|Outcome
|-
!Votes
!%
!Votes
!%
|-
|align=left|Single-member constituencies||1,829,995||78.75||493,935||21.25||60,850||rowspan=3|2,384,780||rowspan=3|30,565,826||rowspan=3|7.80
|{{No2|Failed to meet quorum}}
|-
|align=left|Maintaining state financing of political parties||404,515||17.37||1,923,994||82.63||56,271
|{{No2|Failed to meet quorum}}
|-
|align=left|Tax law interpretation||2,194,689||94.51||127,395||5.49||62,696
|{{No2|Failed to meet quorum}}
|-
|colspan=13 align=left|Source: [https://web.archive.org/web/20151007123756/http://referendum2015.pkw.gov.pl/341_Polska PKW]
|}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Polish elections}}

[[Category:2015 elections in Poland|Referendum]]
[[Category:Referendums in Poland]]
[[Category:2015 referendums|Poland]]
[[Category:Electoral reform referendums]]
[[Category:Electoral reform in Poland]]
[[Category:September 2015 events in Poland|Referendum]]