UPDATE: Polish conservatives win European Parliament elections - exit poll
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
26.05.2019 21:53
Poland's ruling conservatives narrowly won the country's elections to the European Parliament on Sunday, an exit poll found.
Votes being counted in Polish European Parliament electionsPAP/Darek Delmanowicz
The governing Law and Justice party garnered 42.4 percent of the vote, while its arch-rival, the European Coalition alliance of opposition parties, scored 39.1 percent, according to the survey.
The results of the vote, a key test ahead of Poland’s parliamentary elections later this year, were released seconds after polling stations closed at 9pm.
Turnout was 43 percent, a strong showing for a European Parliament ballot, state broadcaster TVP reported.
The socially liberal Wiosna (Spring) grouping, which appeared only recently on the political scene, finished third on Sunday with 6.6 percent, according to the exit poll.
The survey found that the nationalist Confederation group garnered 6.1 percent.
The study also showed that no other grouping crossed the 5 percent threshold needed to get into the European Parliament under Polish election rules.
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.
(pk/gs)