Łukasz Gibała registered for Kraków mayoral election

Łukasz Gibała will appear on the ballot in Kraków’s early mayoral election after the city election commission officially registered his candidacy. The independent city councillor announced the decision Friday on X, and his name now appears on the candidate list published by Poland’s National Electoral Commission.

Gibała declared that he had collected nearly 14,700 signatures of support. His candidacy had come under pressure after the commission rejected 3,200 signatures on Monday, out of nearly 5,500 initially submitted, because the signatories’ addresses did not include the word “Kraków.”

His political team mobilized before the Thursday 4 p.m. deadline for applications and said it gathered about 9,000 additional signatures, exceeding the number needed to replace those rejected. Candidates must submit at least 3,000 valid signatures, along with details including a national identification number and address.

The commission has also registered Michał Drewnicki of Law and Justice, Jan Hoffman, one of the initiators of the referendum that removed the previous mayor, Aleksandra Owca of Razem, and Monika Piątkowska, backed by Civic Coalition and the Polish People’s Party. It rejected the registrations of Stanisław Kułacha and Marta Ratuszyńska because they lacked enough signatures.

Signatures for five other candidates remain under review: former Supreme Audit Office president Marian Banaś, Bartosz Bocheńczak of Confederation, Daria Gosek-Popiołek of the Left, Michał Klimek of the Confederation of the Polish Crown and Sławomir Pietrzyk of Poland’s Social Democracy. The commission says it will decide on their registrations by Monday. The election will take place Sept. 27 after a May referendum removed Mayor Aleksander Miszalski. His former deputy, Stanisław Kracik, is serving until a successor is elected.

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The election commission officially registered my candidacy today in the early mayoral election for Kraków. None of this would have been possible without you. Thank you once again!