In short, by the exit polls:
- PiS (the current ruling party, right-wing) got the most votes, but cannot rule alone, nor can rule in coalition with the alt-right party Konfederacja by a decent margin (212 mandates total vs. 231 needed to have majority).
- The opposition parties (center-right Koalicja Obywatelska, center-right Trzecia Droga and leftist Lewica) together have majority. They know they have to make a government together, the question is whether they can overcome their differences. They did suggest strong coöperation during their campaigns.
- Highest-ever turnout (72%) in the elections.
- The accompanying referendum (a device to have more funds for promoting ideas by the current ruling party) a total failure (40% turnout—voters had to explicitly opt-out of participation!).
This is the best summary I could come up with:
An exit poll in Poland’s parliamentary election suggested the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has won the most votes but, if it turns out to be accurate, appeared to show a possible route to government for a combined opposition coalition led by former prime minister and European Council president Donald Tusk.
Minutes after the poll was released at 9pm local time, Tusk appeared on stage at the Civic Coalition election headquarters at Warsaw’s Ethnographical Museum to declare victory.
However, an exit poll in Slovakia’s election earlier this month appeared to show a victory for a progressive coalition, only for the actual results to be strikingly different.
It has also put Poland on a collision course with Brussels over rule of law issues, which has led to tens of billions of euros in European funding being frozen.
“I saw a lot of young people, more than four or eight years ago, which makes me optimistic,” said Pawel, 46, who had voted for Tusk’s Civic Coalition.
Electoral results are ratified by the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs, added to the supreme court by the PiS government.
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