The first round of the presidential election will be held in Poland on 18 May 2025 and, if necessary, the second round will be held on 1 June 2025.[1] Incumbent president Andrzej Duda is ineligible for re-election.
Electoral system
The president is elected for a five-year term using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a run-off is held between the top two candidates. Presidents serve a five-year term and can be re-elected once. The second term of Andrzej Duda expires on 6 August 2025, and the president-elect will take the oath of office on that day, before the National Assembly (a joint session of Sejm and Senate).
Group of citizens willing to register a candidate in the election must establish an electoral committee (Polish: komitet wyborczy) of at least 15 members, and submit a notice to the National Electoral Commission supported with 1,000 citizens' signatures.[12] To register a candidate, an electoral committee must present to the PKW 99,000 more endorsement signatures.[13] As of 30 January 2025[update], the following committees and candidates have applied for registration:[14][15]
Sławomir Mentzen was the first candidate to begin an electoral campaign on 31 August 2024, drawing criticism and accusations of illegality from politicians of other parties for its early start.[16]Marshal of the SejmSzymon Hołownia from the Poland 2050 party declared his candidacy on 13 November.[17] The Civic Coalition selected its candidate in a presidential primary on 22 November after Minister of Foreign AffairsRadosław Sikorski challenged presumptive nominee, Mayor of WarsawRafał Trzaskowski, who was the Civic Coalition's 2020 presidential candidate.[18] Following the Civic Coalition primary, Institute of National Remembrance chairman Karol Nawrocki was endorsed by the Law and Justice party on 24 November as an officially independent candidate, as he never belonged to any political party.[19] Speculation swiftly began on whether PiS would replace Nawrocki when it was revealed that he had contact with a future criminal as part of his time as a boxer two decades prior, for which he was constantly attacked by opposing politicians.[20] Polling showed, however, that the vast plurality of people did not expect Nawrocki to be replaced.[21]
PiS campaign funds
Sylwester Marciniak (left) and Wojciech Sych (right)
On 29 August, the PKW ruled 5:3[24] to penalize PiS by refusing to return 10,8 million PLN for 36 million designated to it via party subsidy, alleging the party misused 3,6 million PLN of their provided campaign funds in the 2023 parliamentary election.[25] Despite PiS appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court issued no verdict within the 60-day deadline. The party appealed to its members and supporters for financial aid in donations.[26] The PKW tied in a vote on 23 September regarding whether the committee recognizes the Supreme Court as valid considering the ongoing constitutional crisis.[27] Further penalizations by the PKW on 18 November occurred thereafter, with the Commission ruling 5:4 to deprive PiS of its entire 75 million PLN subsidy for the three next years. PiS likewise appealed this decision to the Supreme Court,[28][29] which the Supreme Court ruled invalid on 11 December, obligating the PKW to return PiS its subsidy.[30] The Commission voted 5:4 to adjourn the meeting on 16 December without recognizing the Supreme Court or its ruling.[31] On 30 December, a re-vote was held on the matter of whether it recognizes the Supreme Court, ruling 4:3 in favor of recognizing its verdict on this matter, and accepting the Supreme Court's decision to return the funds to PiS.[32][33] Subsequently, the matter was relayed to the Ministry of Finance, in charge of granting subsidies.
In reaction to the ruling, several politicians commented. Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated on X that he does not recognize the PKW positively ruling on granting PiS its subsidy.[34] Marshal of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia stated the need for a compromise that lets Poles decide on a President without the validity of the president-elect's mandate being disputed by different parties.[35] On 8 January 2025 Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański refused to recognize the PKW's ruling affirming PiS is to be granted its subsidy, stating the verdict was written in a "self-contradictory" way.[36] Sylwester Marciniak, the PKW chairman, responded by stating the verdict was written clearly and demanding the Ministry grant PiS its allotted funds.[37] Prime Minister Tusk expressed doubt over the legal validity of the PKW verdict, defending his Minister.[38] A poll suggests 47.1% of Poles (98% of PiS voters, 71% of TD voters, 53% of Lewica voters) support PiS receiving the funds, and 46.9% (85% of PO voters, 80% of Konfederacja voters) are against.[39]
The second round of the election is, according to polls, expected to be contested by Nawrocki and Trzaskowski.
Timeline
Marshal of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia announced the election day on 8 January 2025;[1] the following schedule was approved by the National Electoral Commission on 15 January 2025:[40]
Timeline of the 2025 Polish presidential election
Date
Event description
until 24 March 2025
Notifying the National Electoral Commission of setting up election committees for candidates for the Presidency of the Republic of Poland
until 31 March 2025
The appointment of constituency electoral commissions
Submitting to the National Electoral Commission candidates for the Presidency of the Republic of Poland
from 4 April 2025 until 15 May 2025
Submitting by voters requests to:
issue the certificate confirming the right to vote in the place of residence on election day,
change the voting location,
Submitting by soldiers performing basic military service or those performing military training and policemen serving in quarted units, officers of the State Security Service, the Border Guards, the State Fire Service and the Prison Service serving in quarted units, requests to change the voting location
from 4 April 2025 until 15 May 2025
Local voting commissions are to be constituted
Foreign voting districts and polling stations abroad are to be announced
until 14 April 2025
Establishment of polling districts in medical facilities, social welfare facilities, penal institutions and detention centers, as well as in extramural departments of these establishments, dormitories and complexes of dormitories, as well as determination of their boundaries, consecutive number, as well as their locations
until 18 April 2025
Providing public information on the consecutive numbers and boundaries of polling districts, as well as location of district electoral commissions, including premises adapted to the needs of disabled persons, as well as the possibility of postal voting and proxy voting,
Submission of requests to establish polling districts aboard Polish ships by captains of ships,
Nomination of candidates to district electoral commission by agents of election committees
Broadcast without payment of the election programmes, prepared by election committees by means of public radio and television broadcasters
Date
Event description
until 5 May 2025
Notice of the intention to vote by correspondence by disabled voters, including by means of overlays on ballot papers in Braille alphabet, and by voters who are 60 years of age or older on the day of voting,
notice of the intention to exercise the right to free transportation to the polling station or free return transportation by disabled voters and by voters who are 60 years of age or older on the day of voting, in a commune where on the election day there is no communal passenger transport
until 8 May 2025
Providing public information on the organization of free transportation in communes, rural or urban-rural communes, on the day referred to in the art. 37f § 1 of the Electoral Code
until 9 May 2025
Submitting requests to draw up the power of attorney to vote by disabled voters and those who are 60 years of age or older on the day of voting
until 13 May 2025
Submitting requests to be entered in the roll of voters in polling districts established abroad by voters staying abroad,
Submitting requests to be entered in the roll of voters in polling districts established on Polish ships by voters present aboard those ships
until 15 May 2025
Information for disabled voters and voters who are 60 years of age or older on the day of voting, who have noticed of their intention to exercise their right to transportation to the polling station, about the timing of transportation on the voting day
^The President of Poland traditionally resigns from party membership after taking office. Although Duda was officially an independent, his 2020 campaign was endorsed and funded by Law and Justice.
^"Gen. Rajmund Andrzejczak kandydatem na prezydenta? Jest jasna deklaracja" [Gen. Rajmund Andrzejczak a presidential candidate? There is a clear declaration]. Rzeczpospolita (in Polish). Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024. O zamiar kandydowania w wyborach prezydenckich generał rezerwy został zapytany w piątek w RMF FM. — Nie jestem zawodowym politykiem (...) Jestem zawodowym oficerem — odparł wojskowy. — Na pewno nie — mówił, dopytywany o jasną deklarację w sprawie startu. [The reserve general was asked about his intention to run in the presidential elections on Friday on RMF FM. "I am not a professional politician (...) I am a professional officer," the military man replied. "Certainly not," he said, when asked about a clear declaration regarding his participation.]
^"Prawybory w PO. Trzaskowski ma konkurencję" [Primary in PO [Civic Platform]. [Rafał] Trzaskowski has a competitor [Radosław Sikorski]]. TVP Info (in Polish). 9 November 2024. Archived from the original on 9 January 2025. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
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