1995 Presidential elections were held in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 on Sunday November 5 (first round), and Sunday November 19 (second round). Aleksander Kwaśniewski

Aleksander Kwasniewski

Aleksander Kwaśniewski is a Polish politician who served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule he was active in the Socialist Union of Polish Students and was the Minister for Sport in the communist government in the 1980s...

 and Lech Wałęsa

Lech Wałęsa

Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...

 passed to the second round. Kwaśniewski won the election, collecting 51.7 percent of votes in the run-off

Two-round system

The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...

, against 48.3 percent for Lech Wałęsa

Lech Wałęsa

Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...

, the former Solidarity leader.

Background

Kwaśniewski's campaign slogans were "Let's choose the future" (Wybierzmy przyszłość) and "A Poland for all" (Wspólna Polska). Political opponents disputed his victory, and produced evidence to show that he had lied about his education in registration documents and public presentations. There was also some mystery over his graduation from university. A law court confirmed that Kwaśniewski had lied about his record, but did not penalise him for it, judging the information irrelevant to the election result.

Results

Kwaśniewski won with 51.7 percent of votes in the run-off

Two-round system

The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...

. 64.7% of citizens cast their votes during the first round, 98.2% of those were valid. 68.2% of citizens cast their vote during the second round, 98.0% of those were valid.

First round

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwasniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski is a Polish politician who served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule he was active in the Socialist Union of Polish Students and was the Minister for Sport in the communist government in the 1980s...	SLD	6,275,670	35.11
Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...	-	5,917,328	33.11
Jacek Kuroń Jacek Kuron Jacek Jan Kuroń was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. Kuroń was a prominent Polish social and political figure; educator and historian; an activist of the Polish Scouting Association; co-founder of the Workers' Defence Committee; twice a Minister of...	UW Freedom Union (Poland) The Freedom Union was a liberal democratic party in Poland. It was founded on March 20, 1994 out of the merger of the Democratic Union and the Liberal Democratic Congress . Both of these parties had roots in the Solidarity trade union movement. It represented European democratic and liberal...	1,646,946	9.22
Jan Olszewski Jan Olszewski Jan Ferdynand Olszewski is a Polish lawyer and political figure. He is best known for serving as Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland from 1991 to 1992....	RdR RDR -Organisations:* Rassemblement Démocratique pour la République, a political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo* Rassemblement Démocratique pour le Rwanda, also known as "Rassemblement Démocratique pour la Retour", an insurgent group in Rwanda...	1,225,453	6.86
Waldemar Pawlak Waldemar Pawlak Waldemar Pawlak is a Polish politician. He twice served as Prime Minister of Poland, briefly in 1992 and again from 1993 to 1995. Since November 2007, he has been Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy. Pawlak is the only person who held the office of Prime Minister twice during the...	PSL	770,419	4.31
Tadeusz Zieliński	UP	631,432	3.53
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz Hanna Beata Gronkiewicz-Waltz is a Polish liberal-conservative politician who has been the Mayor of Warsaw since 2 December 2006. She is the first woman to ever hold this position....	-	492,628	2.76
Janusz Korwin-Mikke Janusz Korwin-Mikke Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke is a Polish conservative liberal political commentator and politician. He is the leader of the Congress of the New Right, which was formed in 2011 from Freedom and Lawfulness, which he led from its formation in 2009, and the Real Politics Union, which he led from...	UPR	428,969	2.40
Andrzej Lepper Andrzej Lepper Andrzej Zbigniew Lepper was a Polish politician who was the leader of Samoobrona RP political party....	Samoobrona	235,797	1.32
Jan Pietrzak Jan Pietrzak Jan Pietrzak is a Polish comedian, founder of Kabaret pod Egidą . He co-founded the 'Hybrydy' student cabaret with Jonasz Kofta in . One of the popular comedians and voices of anti-communist Poland, his "Żeby Polska była Polską" song became one of the protest songs and hymns of...	-	201,033	1.12
Tadeusz Koźluk	-	27,259	0.15
Kazimierz Piotrowicz	-	12,591	0.07
Leszek Bubel	-	6,825	0.04
Total	-	-	100.00

Second round

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwasniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski is a Polish politician who served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule he was active in the Socialist Union of Polish Students and was the Minister for Sport in the communist government in the 1980s...	SLD	9,704,439	51.72
Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...	-	9,058,176	48.28
Total	-	-	100.00