The conservative PiS party, which governed the country from 2015 until late last year, won 33.7 percent of the vote in elections to regional assemblies, according to an exit poll.
The ruling liberal Civic Coalition (KO) alliance came second with 31.9 percent of the vote in Sunday’s local elections.
The vote marked the first electoral test for the pro-European Civic Coalition since it came to power in the parliamentary elections of late 2023.
While PiS came in ahead of the KO, it was still well behind the combined score of the three groupings that make up the coalition government, the Reuters news agency reported.
The centre-right Third Way group, a junior government coalition partner, finished third with 13.5 percent, according to the survey by pollster Ipsos.
The far-right opposition Confederation group was fourth, with 7.5 percent.
The Left party, another member of the governing coalition, came in fifth, gaining 6.8 percent.
Meanwhile, Rafał Trzaskowski, a senior liberal politician, won his second term as mayor of the Polish capital, securing 59.8 percent of the vote in Warsaw, according to the poll.
Turnout at 5 p.m. on Sunday stood at 39.43 percent and was more than 2 percentage points lower than in the previous such vote in 2018, officials said.
The official election results are expected to be announced in the days ahead.
More than 29 million Poles were entitled to cast their ballots in the local government elections, the PAP news agency reported.
A second round of voting, where needed, will be held on April 21.
(ał/gs)
Source: PAP