Referendums in Poland

There have been several referendums in the history of Poland.

1920 and 1921

There were no country-wide referendums in the Second Polish Republic, but there were two local referendums on border issues between Poland and Germany:

• 11 July 1920 – Referendum on Warmia, Mazury and Powiśle
• 20 March 1921 – Referendum on Upper Silesia

1946 and 1987

There were two referendums in the People's Republic of Poland:

• 30 June 1946 – People's referendum (also known as the 3xTAK, 3 times YES referendum)
• 29 November 1987 – Referendum on political and economic reforms

Since 1989

There have been four referendums in post-Communist Poland:

• 18 February 1996: two referendums:
  • Referendum on enfranchisement of citizens (Referendum w sprawie powszechnego uwłaszczenia obywateli)
  • Referendum with four questions on privatised assets (Referendum o niektórych kierunkach wykorzystania majątku państwowego)
• 25 May 1997 – Referendum on the Constitution (Referendum konstytucyjne)
• 7–8 June 2003 – Referendum on joining the EU (Referendum akcesyjne or Referendum europejskie)
• 6 September 2015 – Referendum with three questions on Sejm representation, political party funding, and tax law dispute resolution:
  • Introducing single-member constituencies for Sejm elections, on maintaining state financing of political parties and introducing a presumption in favour of the taxpayer in disputes over the tax law.

A referendum on the proposed EU Constitution was planned in 2005, but was abandoned after the rejection of the Constitution by French voters.

2023 Polish referendum happened in Poland on 15 October 2023, alongside nationwide elections to the Senate and Sejm. Four questions have been announced by members of the government from 11–14 August. Voters were asked whether they approve of privatisation of state-owned enterprises, increase in the retirement age, admission of immigrants under the EU relocation mechanism and removal of the barrier on Poland’s border with Belarus. The referendum was answered by around 40% of eligible Polish voters, making it not binding.