Częstochowa voters remove mayor Matyjaszczyk and city council in referendum

Referendum result

Voters in Częstochowa removed mayor Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk from office and dismissed the city council in a referendum held on Sunday, 25 October 2026. According to the Częstochowa branch of the National Electoral Office, 97% of voters backed removing the mayor, with 51,863 people taking part in that question. The council question passed with 96.2% in favour, and 51,844 people cast ballots on it. Data from 134 of the 135 precincts, reported in the early hours of Monday, 26 October, showed turnout above the required thresholds.

At the close of polling, Tomasz Doruchowski, director of the Częstochowa branch, said:

“The voting proceeded calmly, we did not record incidents that affected its course.”

Doruchowski also said single complaints had been filed about poorly marked polling stations, with some direction signs put up only after the stations opened.

Thresholds and the criminal case

The referendum was valid only if turnout reached at least three fifths of the number of voters in the 2024 second-round vote. That meant 46,625 votes for the president question and 48,754 for the council question, or 29.47% and 30.81% of eligible voters on polling day. Matyjaszczyk was detained by the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) on 25 February 2026. Prosecutors charged him with accepting at least 40,000 zł for budget changes that allowed a public contract to benefit one entrepreneur, and with accepting benefits from several people totalling at least 129,000 zł. More than 20 people have been charged in the same investigation. Matyjaszczyk denies the charges and says he is the victim of slander, but he agreed to have his name published.

Sanctions, party suspension and the nepotism claims

Since the arrest, prosecutorial sanctions have barred Matyjaszczyk from entering the city hall and contacting staff, and his first deputy, Zdzisław Wolski, has carried out the mayor's duties. Nowa Lewica suspended his party membership until the case is clarified. The court refused the prosecutors' request for temporary arrest and also rejected a repeated defence request to lift the sanctions. Referendum initiators alleged nepotism in the city office and municipal companies, pointing to a partner who later became his wife and who headed a Corporate Order Office that the acting mayor liquidated several weeks before the vote. They also cited the city's debt and the lack of key investments, such as a stadium for Raków. City authorities argued that the debt relative to budget was lower than in many large cities. Marcin Nocoń, who represented the initiative, told PAP that the group had sent Prime Minister Donald Tusk a letter before the vote, and said the council, where the Nowa Lewica and KO coalition holds a majority, had given the mayor a vote of confidence despite the corruption charges.

What happens next

A commissioner appointed by the prime minister will govern Częstochowa until early elections for the president and the city council are held. The commissioner's name was not given in the articles. This is the second attempt to recall the president in this term, after a 2025 effort failed to gather enough signatures. The initiative was launched by city activists and people who ran for the council from the Trzecia Droga list, which won no seats. Turnout in the president question was 51,863, and the outcome was 97% in favour of removal.

Threshold, president question46,625

Turnout, president question51,863

Threshold, council question48,754

Turnout, council question51,844

Threshold, president question

46625 votes

Turnout, president question

51863 votes

Threshold, council question

48754 votes

Turnout, council question

51844 votes

Data from the article text