Poland’s presidential vote sees 50.7% turnout by 5 pm; two elderly voters die at polling stations

Voter turnout in Poland’s first-round presidential election reached 50.69 percent by 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT), the National Electoral Commission (PKW) said on Sunday, surpassing the 47.9 percent recorded at the same hour in the pandemic-delayed 2020 poll.

Photo:

PAP/Łukasz Szeląg

Turnout was highest in the central Mazowieckie region, which includes Warsaw, at 54.97 percent, and lowest in the south-west Opolskie region at 43.22 percent, PKW chairman Sylwester Marciniak told reporters.

In all 18 provincial capitals participation exceeded 50 percent; Warsaw led with 58.85 percent.

Two fatalities, one arrest

Police said two elderly voters died after collapsing inside polling stations. An 84-year-old man lost consciousness in a school used as a voting site in Bielsko-Biała, southern Poland, while a woman of similar age died in Szczecin in the north-west despite emergency efforts.

Separately, officers detained a man in another Bielsko-Biała precinct for allegedly assaulting election officials; prosecutors may charge him with attacking a public servant, an offence punishable by up to three years in prison.

Polling stations close at 21:00 (19:00 GMT).

If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of valid ballots, a run-off will be held on 1 June.

(jh)

Source: PAP