2020-07-12 22:02 update: 2020-07-13, 09:15
Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański
Right-wing President Andrzej Duda likely won a second term of office in the Sunday presidential elections in Poland, according to an exit poll by the Ipsos public opinion research centre for the public TVP and private TVN and Polsat television broadcasters.
According to Ipsos, incumbent President Andrzej Duda, who is supported by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, received 50.4 percent of the vote while his centrist rival, Rafal Trzaskowski, backed by the centrist Civic Platform (PO), won 49.6 percent.
According to Ipsos, the election turnout reached 68.9 percent.
In the first round of the presidential vote, Duda won 43.5 percent of the votes and Trzaskowski got 30.46 percent.
Under the State Electoral Commission's (PKW) optimistic scenario, the official results of the presidential run-off could come late on Monday or in the night from Monday to Tuesday. Otherwise, the final results will be announced by 11 pm on July 14.
The PKW head Sylwester Marciniak said on Sunday that 29,359,152 Polish citizens were eligible to vote in the second round.
Polling stations opened at 7 am and closed at 9 pm.
Addressing an election evening held in Pultusk, north of Warsaw, Duda thanked all Poles for taking part in the election, especially those who voted for him. He said that winning a presidential election is great news, especially that the turnout reached close to 70 percent. He noted that such high turnout gives Poland's democracy a great mark.
At the same time Duda congratulated his rival Rafal Trzaskowski on his result and thanked his supporters for taking part in the election.
Duda said he would like to form a coalition for Polish affairs and values and encouraged all to join such a coalition.
The incumbent president thanked Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki for his support. He vowed to cooperate with the government to lead Poland out of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Trzaskowski, at a post-election rally in Warsaw, also thanked his opponent for competing against him in the presidential campaign.
However, Trzaskowski said he believes in victory as he expects the counting of all votes to reverse the initial result.
"We've been saying that it's going to be a close one and it is a close one, but I strongly believe that we will win," Trzaskowski said after the Ipsos exit poll was published. "We only need to count the votes," he added.
Trzaskowski also said it is going to be "a nervous night for everyone in Poland." (PAP)
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