Polish conservatives win regional vote: 'late poll'

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 gained 33 percent of the vote in elections to regional assemblies, according to the poll, which slightly revised previous estimates.

The Civic Coalition, an alliance between the Civic Platform (PO) and Nowoczesna (Modern) parties, came in second with 26.7 percent, according to the study by pollster Ipsos.

The rural-based Polish People's Party (PSL) finished third with 13.6 percent, according to the poll.

Other parties scored under 10 percent, the study found.

Ipsos estimated in an exit poll on Sunday that Law and Justice won 32.3 percent of the vote in elections to regional assemblies, while putting support for the Civic Coalition at 24.7 percent and that for the PSL at 16.6 percent.

The official election returns were expected to be announced in the days ahead.

The exit poll indicated that in the Polish capital, the candidate backed by the opposition Civic Platform party, Rafał Trzaskowski won a decisive, first-round victory in the race for mayor after securing over half the vote.

Some pre-election surveys had suggested the battle for Warsaw would need to go to a second round.

(gs/pk)

Source: PAP