Polish people's referendum, 1946

The People's Referendum (Polish: referendum ludowe) of 1946, also known as the Three Times Yes referendum (Trzy razy tak, often abbreviated as 3×TAK), was a referendum held in Poland on 30 June 1946 on the authority of the State National Council (order of 27 April 1946). The referendum presented an opportunity for the forces vying for political control of Poland following World War II to test their popularity among the general population. However, the results were forged and the referendum failed to meet democratic standards.

The referendum comprised three questions:

Parties of the pro-communist Democratic Bloc, (the Polish Workers' Party (PPR), Socialist Party, Democratic Party, and People's Party) campaigned heavily in favor of "Three Times Yes", while non-communist parties advocated various other combinations; hence the referendum was seen as unofficially deciding whether the Polish citizenry supported or opposed communism. The Polish People's Party (PSL) and Labor Party, which realized what was really at stake in the vote, namely Polish independence and the future of the country, advocated voting "no" on the first question, despite the fact that it had been opposed to the Senate's existence since before the war. The majority of PSL political support was in rural areas, among people who supported agricultural reform, so the party found it impossible to advocate voting "no" on the second question. Nonetheless, the party's opposition to the first question was used by the communists to declare the more liberal PSL activists "traitors". Catholic groups supported "no" on the first question, "yes" on the third, and left the second to voters individual preferences. The Wolność i Niezawisłość party argued against the first two questions only, while the National Armed Forces advocated a "no" for all three questions, as a sign of protest against the annexation of the eastern territories of Poland (known as the Kresy) by the Soviet Union.

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