Polish conservatives win regional vote: election authority

In Poland’s most important electoral test since Law and Justice came to power in the parliamentary elections of late 2015, the party on Sunday secured 254 seats in the country's 16 regional assemblies, the National Electoral Commission announced.

The Civic Coalition, an alliance between the Civic Platform (PO) and Nowoczesna (Modern) parties, came in second with 194 seats, the election authority said.

The rural-based Polish People's Party (PSL) finished third with 70 seats, according to the National Electoral Commission.

Other parties trailed far behind, with voter turnout at 54.96 percent, the commission reported.

Poles on Sunday headed to the ballot box to elect nearly 47,000 aldermen and 2,500 mayors and other officials as local government elections were held across the country.

The ruling conservatives won the most seats in regional assemblies, but were outdistanced by the opposition in mayoral races in several major cities, including Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław.

Mayoral races in several other cities, including the southern city of Kraków, were inconclusive and going into run-offs, the National Electoral Commission said on Wednesday.

A second round of voting, where needed, will be held on November 4.

(gs/pk)