Poland heads for record participation in presidential election – despite Corona

At the presidential election in Poland stands out despite the Corona-Epidemic from a high turnout. According to the Reuters news agency – also because of the corona safety regulations – long lines were formed in front of many polling stations.

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By 5 p.m., almost 48 percent of those entitled to vote had cast their votes, the election commission announced. In the 2015 presidential election, the total turnout was around 49 percent at the end of the day. This time this value was almost reached in the afternoon. At midday, the stake was 24 percent, ten percentage points higher than at the same time five years ago.

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Eleven men applied for the highest state office. Voting was originally scheduled for May 10, but was postponed due to the corona epidemic.

The incumbent provided by the national conservative governing party PiS Andrzej Duda is a favorite, according to surveys. The most promising challenger is the opposition candidate Rafal Trzaskowski.

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The election is also considered a kind of referendum on the politics of the PiS, which has been the president since 2015 and has an absolute majority in parliament.

A second term in Duda would underpin the party’s monopoly on power until the next parliamentary election in 2023. Duda voted in Krakow at noon. He hoped for a high turnout, said the 48-year-old.

Trzaskowski chose in the center of Warsaw. “Dear people, don’t wait until the last moment, because there are long lines in front of polling stations all over Poland,” he wrote on Twitter. Trzaskowski had announced that, among other things, he would reverse the PiS government’s controversial judicial reform should he win.

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Because so many candidates are applying for the highest state office in Poland, it is unlikely that a candidate will get more than 50 percent of the votes straight away. A runoff election is therefore likely.

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Special protection regulations applied in the polling stations on Sunday. People stood in line in the center of Warsaw, as only a limited number of people were allowed in the voting rooms. Disinfectants were ready at the entrance, the election workers wore gloves and face shields. The voters were asked to bring their own pens.

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Poles abroad apparently had some difficulties in getting voting documents for postal voting in good time. Arkady Rzegocki, Poland’s ambassador to the UK, where a particularly large number of Poles live, wrote on Twitter: “It is a pity that not everyone received their election documents in good time due to the pandemic.”

Note: An earlier version of the text said there were ten candidates for the presidency, in fact there are eleven. We have adjusted the position.

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