Polish cities face local referendum initiatives

Efforts to hold local referendums to remove elected officials are underway in two Polish cities.

In Tarnów, an application to dismiss the city president and the City Council has been submitted to the National Electoral Office. The initiative, led by Rafał Kozioł and the 'Ruch Zorro' group, cites failures to support professional sports and a lack of fulfillment of election promises. The Electoral Commissioner has up to 30 days to verify the validity of the submitted signatures.

In Warsaw, organizers seeking to remove Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski have collected over 40,000 signatures. To trigger a referendum, initiators must reach a target of approximately 132,000 valid signatures, representing 10 percent of eligible voters. For the result to be binding, a turnout of at least three-fifths of the number of people who participated in the last mayoral election is required.