MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/. Polish presidential election turnout is for the first time below 20% as of midday on Sunday if compared to 2020 elections, according to a statement from the country’s State Election Commission.
"The State Election Commission informs that as of 12:00 noon on May 18, ballots have been issued during the voting process to 5,739,537 voters, which is 20.28% of the total number of voters," the statement from the Polish SEC reads.
More than 29 million Polish citizens have the right to cast their votes for one of 13 candidates running in the presidential election at 32,000 polling stations across the country. Due to a time difference the voting for Polish nationals took place in the United States a day before.
In Poland, polling stations will close at 9:00 p.m. local time (19:00 GMT), and exit poll results are likely to be follow later. The State Election Commission may announce the final election results within 48 hours after the closure of the polling stations.
In case none of the presidential candidates secure an absolute majority (50%+1 vote) in the presidential election, a second round of the presidential election will be held on June 1.
According to recent public surveys, the leading candidates in the election are Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski from ruling party Civic Coalition (KO) and Karol Nawrocki from opposition political party Law and Justice (PiS).
The president of Poland is elected for a five-year term and has the right to be re-elected only once.