Warsaw mayor recall campaign reaches 82,000 signatures ahead of September deadline

Signature drive enters final stage

The civic campaign Stołeczna Operacja Referendalna has gathered 82,000 signatures in its effort to hold a recall referendum targeting Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and the Warsaw city council. Initiative coordinator Maciej Wilk announced the total on 7 September 2026, stating that the petition drive is entering its final three weeks before the formal submission deadline on 28 September. The signature drive originally commenced on 30 July. Wilk dismissed predictions based solely on linear extrapolations of previous daily collection rates, explaining that primary distribution channels were scheduled to activate in September.

Whoever tries today to predict the final result through simple, linear extrapolation of the current pace overlooks the most important thing: key collection channels planned for the final stage of the action are only now entering the game. We are preparing for a lightning finish.

Direct mail distribution and volunteer collection

To reach potential signatories across the capital, organizers are distributing 400,000 referendum cards directly into resident mailboxes across 11 Warsaw districts by 13 September. Wilk stated that the targeted areas were selected based on an analysis of historical municipal and national voting data down to the level of individual electoral commissions. Campaign coordinators project that this direct postal distribution channel alone will deliver approximately 40,000 additional signatures.

Concurrently, field volunteers wearing orange vests and caps conduct daily street collections throughout Warsaw. Campaign centers have distributed 15,000 petition forms to individuals who volunteered to collect signatures independently among family members, neighbors, acquaintances, and coworkers in local workplaces. Online engagement has also expanded, with the printable card downloaded nearly 1,000 times from the initiative website during the first week of September. Organizers confirmed that initial signed forms have already been received at headquarters.

The first completed cards are already returning to us, but we expect an avalanche increase only in the final days of the campaign.

Statutory requirements and coalition support

To successfully call a municipal recall referendum in Warsaw, organizers must submit verified signatures from at least 10% of registered city voters, which equals approximately 132,000 residents. Should the signatures pass validation, the referendum itself will require a turnout threshold of at least three-fifths of the voter participation recorded in the last local government elections. Organizers calculate this legal validity requirement at roughly 450,000 cast ballots.

A range of civic groups and external organizations have joined the initiative, supplying volunteer networks and logistical infrastructure to the collection effort rather than running independent campaigns.

A common goal is today more important than party colours.

Precedent and final collection schedule

The current effort follows a previous recall petition drive in the capital in October 2013, when Warsaw voters went to the polls in a recall referendum concerning then-mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz following resident disputes over public transport management and fare hikes. Campaign organizers have emphasized that all completed forms must be returned on time to local collection points or posted directly to the organization headquarters prior to the 28 September deadline.