(ANSA-AP) - WARSAW, OCTOBER 21 - Polish voters were casting
ballots in local elections Sunday that were the first nationwide
test of support for the conservative ruling party, whose
policies have produced street protests and repeated clashes with
European Union leaders.
The election is for offices ranging from city mayors to
village councilors. The ruling right-wing Law and Justice party
is hoping to strengthen its firm grip on power, which has been
buoyed by handing out social benefits and questioning how much
authority the EU should have over member nations. EU leaders say
changes the ruling party has made to Poland's judiciary threaten
the rule of law in the country and have triggered a sanctioning
procedure. The vote Sunday will also measure the strength of the
opposition, which is centered on the pro-EU Civic Platform party
that governed Poland for eight years before Law and Justice came
to power in 2015. Campaigning had targeted Poland's largest
cities - such as Warsaw, Poznan, Krakow, Wroclaw and Gdansk -
which are traditionally pro-EU, and where the opposition is in
control of local governments. Any losses in the cities would be
seen as a defeat for the opposition. In Warsaw, in a rare sight,
voters had to stand in lines at many voting stations to get
their ballots. They said that voter mobilization was very high
in the race between the EU-skeptic and pro-EU main political
forces.
The State Electoral Commission said that by noon (1000 GMT)
in Warsaw about 17 percent of voters had cast their ballots. The
nationwide turnout at the same time was 15.62 percent.
Sunday is the first round of voting. If mayoral candidates
don't win at least 50 percent of the vote, runoffs will be held
on Nov. 4.
Full official results are expected late Tuesday or Wednesday.
Poland's local elections kick off a string of crucial votes that
include the European Parliament vote in May, the national
parliament vote in the fall of 2019 and Poland's presidential
election in the spring of 2020. (ANSA-AP).
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