Polish conservatives win EU vote: election authority
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
27.05.2019 08:53
Poland's ruling conservatives have won a convincing victory over a coalition of opposition parties in the country's elections to the European Parliament, according to data announced by electoral officials on Monday.
Members of Poland's National Electoral Commission. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
With 99.25 percent of the ballots counted, the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party had 45.57 percent of the vote, while its arch-rival, the European Coalition alliance of opposition parties, had 38.29 percent, the National Electoral Commission said.
The socially liberal Wiosna (Spring) grouping, which appeared only recently in Polish politics, finished third in Sunday’s elections with 6.04 percent, according to the data released by the National Electoral Commission.
No other grouping crossed the 5 percent threshold needed to get into the European Parliament under Polish election rules.
An exit poll had pointed to a less convincing win for Poland's ruling conservatives.
Turnout exceeded 45 percent and was the highest so far in a European Parliament ballot in Poland.
Poles went to the ballot box to choose 52 deputies to the European Parliament, the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union, which their country joined in 2004.
The National Electoral Commission was expected to release the final results of the vote later on Monday.
Sunday’s vote was a key test for Poland’s political parties ahead of parliamentary elections in the autumn.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR