Every citizen of Poland who is at least 18 years old on the day of election has the right to vote in the European elections. Citizens of the European Union who are not Polish citizens but who are at least 18 years old on election day, and who are permanent residents of Poland also have the right to vote.
Candidates who wish to stand for the European election must have the right to vote in this election, be at least 21 years old on the election day, and have resided permanently a minimum of 5 years in Poland or in another EU member state.
For the elections, Poland is divided into 13 constituencies. The right to nominate candidates is granted to election committees of a political party, coalition election committees, and voter election committees.
The list of candidates should be supported by at least 10,000 signatures of voters permanently residing in the constituency. The elections to the parliament are ordered by the president of Poland, issued no later than 90 days prior the voting date.
The voting results from all the electoral constituencies are submitted to the national electoral commission (NEC) which establishes the election results. The NEC determines which lists of candidates from the electoral committees satisfy the eligibility conditions to participate in the distribution of seats.
"The Polish democratic left alliance (SLD) proposes to its electors a Europe which will change course in order to end austerity and move towards a policy to stimulate growth and reduce inequalities and unemployment"
The total vote count from all electoral constituencies is calculated using the d'Hondt method. The election committees which have obtained a minimum of five per cent of valid votes across Poland participate in the distribution of seats. Following the Hare-Niemeyer method, the seats are distributed by the NEC among the electoral committees with respect to the total number of valid votes cast for lists of candidates from a given electoral committee.
Finally, the NEC establishes the number of seats to be attributed to each of the constituency candidate lists from each of the electoral committees that have gained seats, and then allocates those seats to specific candidates.
The MEPs cannot be simultaneously either a deputy to the Sejm or to the Senate, nor occupy any post which could be considered a conflict of interest.
In 2004, 6.27 million Poles elected 54 MEPs. The turnout was only 20.87 per cent. In 2009, the attendance improved and reached 24.53 per cent, meaning that 7.36 million Poles voted.
Fifty MEPs were elected for the 2009-2014 term. In 2011, as a result of the Lisbon treaty, Poland extended its number of mandates by one. Recent polls predict that the turnout on 25 May will be between 16 and 20 per cent.
The 2014 election will determine the political direction of the parliament, and will indirectly indicate the future leader of the European commission. Therefore, the SLD proposes to its electors a Europe which will change course in order to end austerity and move towards a policy to stimulate growth and reduce inequalities and unemployment.
The SLD also fully supports the roadmap established by the Party of European Socialists which sets out the political vision for the next five years with a progressive majority in the parliament and commission.
As the vice-president of the SLD and a candidate for the European elections, my personal priorities for the next five years include: job creation, respect for human rights, equal rights for women, improved quality of life, the separation of church and state, and increased communication between citizens and the EU.