What & when is it?

Who can vote?

Where can I vote in Seattle? In US or Canada?

Where can I find the list of candidates?

I am a Polish citizen who is visiting in Seattle, how do I vote?

I am a Polish citizen who is a permanent resident in the US, how do I register & vote?

Where are the results posted?

What & when is it?

These are parliamentary elections to the Senate and the House of Representatives (Sejm) of the Republic of Poland. The elections in Poland are scheduled for Sunday, October 9, 2011; however, voting on the American continent is on Saturday, October 8, 2011.

Who can vote?

You are eligible to vote if you are a citizen of Poland with a valid Polish passport, age 18 or older. However, in order to be able to vote, you need to add your name to the voting registry for  the Polish Consulate in Los Angeles. More info on registration below.

Visitors from Poland can present a voting permit to vote elsewhere obtained from their home election registry office in Poland. If you have such a permit, you don't need to register.

Where & when can I vote in Seattle? USA and Canada?

In the 2011 elections you can vote in person or by mail. Please note that there are different registration deadlines depending how you want to vote.

Voting in Person

In Seattle there is a polling station at the Polish Cultural Center / Polish Home. Voting is from 6 am to 8 pm on October 8, 2011.

Besides Seattle, in the Los Angeles consular region you can also vote in Portland, OR, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities to be announced later. Please check the election info at the website of the Polish Consulate General in LA  for details: TBD.

Other possibilities include Chicago and Vancouver, BC; please note though, that these cities are in other consular regions, so you would need to register locally first and then you would get a usual permit to vote some other place from the Consulate. Please read 2010 rules to have an idea how that works.

Voting by Mail

You receive your ballot from and return it to the election commission at the Consulate General in Los Angeles.

Where can I find the list of candidates?

The list of the candidates will be posted here and it also will be posted at the Polish Home in Seattle. Click here for general information about voting in Seattle.

I am a Polish citizen who is a local resident, how do I register & vote?

You need to put your name on the voting registry at the Polish Consulate General in Los Angeles. The registration deadline for voting by mail is Sep 26, 2011, while the registration deadline for voting in person is October 6, 2011. When registering for voting in person you can indicate Seattle or Portland (or other city in the consular region). If planning to travel, you can ask the Consulate for a voting permit good at the polling stations in other consular regions or outside of the United States.

You register over internet (site run by the National Election Commission in Poland), or you can register at the Consulate in LA by mail, email, phone, fax or personally. Please follow instructions on the website of the Polish Consulate in LA: here (in Polish).

II am a Polish citizen living in Poland who is just visiting in Seattle, how do I vote?

You need to follow the regular registration procedure in Poland to obtain the affidavit of eligibility to vote that allows for voting at other polling stations than your home polling station.

© 2011, Ryszard Kott

Fot. 'Fountain" - Hanna Gil

Fot. "Seattle" - Ryszard Kwieciński