100 years ago the first parliamentary elections in Poland started. "All citizens have been given the right to vote"

100 years ago, on 26 January 1919, at eight o’clock in the morning, the first general parliamentary elections in Polish history began. Their stake was not only the political system of the reborn Poland, but also the position of the state on the international arena. The voting was preceded by a fierce election campaign.

According to the adopted rules, the right to participate in the election was granted to all citizens, regardless of gender, financial status, religion or nationality. The single-chamber character of the emerging parliament and the universal suffrage constituted a breakthrough for the majority of residents of the Republic of Poland in comparison with the regulations in force in the partitioning countries.

Galicia represented an extremely disproportionate electoral system. The Reich also had an electoral system based on a division into three couriers and a property censorship. The vote was taken at the age of 25.The Tsarist empire also had a disproportionate curial system. Electoral rights were limited by censuses and numerous restrictions on certain groups of the population. The importance of voting was diminished by the small competences of the Duma.

Elections in 1919 were therefore the first democratic and equal voting in the history of Polish lands.

Finally, on 26 January 1919, 226 MPs were elected in the area of the Kingdom of Poland controlled by the government in Warsaw and 70 in part of Galicia. In February 1919, elections were held in the Suwałki region. In June, 42 MPs were elected in Wielkopolska and 11 from the areas of Białystok and Biała Podlaska. In the middle of 1919 the Legislative Sejm consisted of 394 MPs. According to the electoral law, it was to consist of 513 MPs, but in the end it reached the number of 442 seats.

Particularly noteworthy is the very high voter turnout. In a starved Poland, destroyed by war, in the middle of a harsh winter, the turnout ranged from 60 to 90 percent depending on the district. Due to the post-war chaos and great movements of the population, it is impossible to estimate it more accurately. It is worth mentioning that in many cities the lists of those entitled to vote were prepared by the housekeepers. Approximately 70 percent of those entitled to vote voted in Warsaw.

On 5 February 1919, a short decree of the Temporary Head of State was published:

I convene the Legislative Sejm to the capital city of Warsaw on 9 February 1919.

Finally, the Sejm met on 10 February in a hurriedly adapted for this purpose building of the Institute of Alexandria-Mariian Upbringing of Ladies in Wiejska Street, which had been deserted since 1915.

Naturally, the buildings, which were later extended, still house the Polish Parliament.

Tłum. K.J.