Eight candidates registered for the vote

The Municipal Electoral Commission in Kraków concluded its verification process on 8 September 2026, officially registering eight candidates for the early mayoral election. Head of the commission Krzysztof Dyl confirmed the roster following the verification of signatures for Daria Gosek-Popiołek from Lewica and Sławomir Pietrzyk from SDPL. The final field also includes Michał Drewnicki of PiS, Jan Hoffman, Aleksandra Owca of Razem, Monika Piątkowska backed by KO and PSL, Łukasz Gibała of Kraków dla Mieszkańców, and Michał Klimek representing Konfederacja Korony Polskiej. The vote is scheduled for 27 September 2026 following the recall of former mayor Aleksander Miszalski in a May referendum. Several hopefuls failed to reach the mandatory 3,000 valid signature threshold and were excluded from the ballot.

Rejections and signature verification errors

The commission denied registration to four contenders, including Konfederacja candidate Bartosz Bocheńczak and former Supreme Audit Office president Marian Banaś. Stanisław Kułach and Marta Ratuszyńska were also excluded after failing to collect enough valid signatures. Krzysztof Dyl noted that rejected entries contained flawed PESEL numbers, illegible names, incomplete street designations, missing apartment numbers, or absent dates. Rejected candidates have two days from the official notice to appeal to the electoral commissioner, who must issue a ruling within another two days.

Defective signatures3,096

Valid signatures2,552

Defective signatures

3096 signatures

Valid signatures

2552 signatures

Data from the article text

Legal challenges and fallout within Konfederacja

Marian Banaś filed an appeal with the electoral commissioner on Tuesday morning after the commission found 3,096 of the 5,648 examined signatures to be defective, leaving him with 2,552 valid endorsements. Banaś stated that discrepancies arose between voter registry addresses and the residential addresses written by signatories.

“If the decision is not in our favour, we will take the case to court. It cannot be that based on the decision of one official who is subject to no supervision, the residents of Kraków are deprived of the opportunity to choose a candidate.”

In the Konfederacja camp, the failure to secure the required 3,000 valid signatures prompted immediate structural actions. Party leader Sławomir Mentzen dismissed Bartosz Bocheńczak from his post as head of the Kraków district on Monday evening.

“I dismiss Bartosz Bocheńczak from the position of president of the Kraków district, suspend all persons holding functions in the Kraków structures, and refer their cases to the Party Court, which will determine their individual responsibility for this catastrophe.”

Political reactions across the field

Bartosz Bocheńczak publicly accepted responsibility for the procedural failure on social media after submitting between 4,640 and 4,960 signatures.

“I will not spin conspiracy theories, look for culprits or shift responsibility onto anyone. I believed that submitting nearly 5,000 signatures would give us a sufficient safety margin. As it turned out, I was wrong.”

Former Sejm Marshal Szymon Hołownia called the outcome a total embarrassment for Konfederacja and its organizational competence. Meanwhile, registered candidate Łukasz Gibała pointed to systemic problems in the verification process, arguing that the system needs modernization through digital platforms such as the mObywatel application.