History
Poland has a long history of elections dating many centuries from the first Sejm in 1182. From the Sejm of 1493 Polish kings had to call regular Sejms and sejmiks (regional elections) every two years. From 1573 the system of royal elections required the election of kings during the Sejm.
The first modern and free elections were held in 1919, two months after Poland regained its independence in 1918. After the May Coup there were questions how free are the Polish elections, specially the elections of 1930 are often called non-free. After the Second World War, Poland became controlled by the communists, who rigged the elections of 1947 to ensure they controlled the entire Polish government. Although there were regular elections in Poland from that time, no elections until the groundbreaking elections of 1989, marking the fall of communism, were free. The elections of 1989, which guaranteed the Polish communist party and its allies a majority of lower house seats, but allowed opposition parties to gain representation, is considered to be a semi-free election. All subsequent elections, beginning with the 1991 election are considered fair and free.
Read more about this topic: Elections In Poland
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