Electoral Administration in Poland from 1918 to 1991

This article present the origins of contemporary election administration bodies and their evolution during the twentieth century in Poland. The paper elaborate institutions organizing elections in the Second Republic, the Polish People’s Republic, and in the early period of the Third Republic of Poland. The key authorities at that time were the National Electoral Commission and the General Electoral Commissioner at the central level and provincial and district electoral commissions. The author have discuss the operation of the electoral authorities based on existing in those days electoral law. The article describes the tradition of election administration in Poland and simultaneously exposes the policies of individual governments to bodies, which was set up to guard the freedom and integrity of electoral procedures. Without a shadow of a doubt, the experience accumulated in the years 1918–1991 led to the creation of one of the best functioning institutions, which is nowadays the basis of democracy in the Third Republic of Poland.