Attendance Statistics

How we actually measure work on Wiejska Street

Sejmometr Media has been operating since November 2019, and since then we have been catching every minute of absence in parliament. We analyze raw data from the Chancellery of the Sejm so that no one has to browse through hundreds of pages of protocols manually. We checked it in the tables – a statistical MP spends only 64% of the duration of block voting on the plenary floor. We record this down to the second because numbers do not lie, even when politicians try to justify themselves with duties in the field.

Every vote in the Polish parliament is a specific entry in our database. Since the beginning of the current term, we have already counted 3,427 individual voting acts. Our system detects situations where an MP removes their card from the reader just before a controversial bill to avoid being assigned to a specific option. Such data allows for an assessment of real engagement, not just what is seen in short snippets of evening news. Only specific data shows who actually has their finger on the pulse of legislation.

Committee work under the microscope

Work in committees is often a blind spot for major media, but at Sejmometr Media, we treat it as a priority. We monitor activity in 29 standing parliamentary committees, including particularly the Public Finance Committee and the Administration and Internal Affairs Committee. In the whole of 2023, we recorded 86 cases where MPs only signed the attendance list and then left the room after 13 minutes of proceedings. Without political jargon, we point out such behaviors in our monthly summaries.

For our clients, we prepare comparative reports for entire parliamentary clubs. You can check with us whether a given club maintains discipline at the level of 94.9%, or if attendance drops to 73% for less media-attractive bills. This data is crucial for local newsrooms and associations that want to hold their representatives from the Krakow or Rzeszow districts accountable. We show pure percentage participation in the law-making process, without unnecessary adjectives or judging intentions.

Reports ready in 4 hours

Our PDF reports are usually delivered within 4 hours of the end of the last block of voting on a given sitting day. Each document contains an average of 12 clear charts showing attendance broken down by gender, parliamentary tenure, and party affiliation. In March 2024, we prepared 43 such analyses for watchdog organizations and independent journalists. We focus on hard facts because we know our audience values specifics over opinion.

Using ready-made statistics from Sejmometr Media saves a lot of time. Extracting data on the activity of a single parliamentarian from official parliamentary websites on your own takes an average of 2.4 hours of tedious clicking. With us, the same operation takes 16 seconds. In the last quarter alone, 89 investigative journalists used our tools, resulting in 14 high-profile stories about low attendance in committees dealing with agriculture and the economy. This was possible because we checked it in the tables and provided a ready result.