Poles vote in presidential election at time of heightened security concerns

Описание: (18 May 2025)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Warsaw, Poland - 18 May 2025
1. Wide of people walking into polling station
2. Various of signs
3. SOUNDBITE (Polish) Monika Laskowska Dzierbicka, student:
"Rafał Trzaskowski is a competent person, he knows languages, so he will try to get along with everyone, which is very important to be able to cooperate. If there is no cooperation, if someone will only set conditions and not want to resolve conflicts, then it will not be possible. That is why we are voting for Rafał Trzaskowski."
4. Wide of Laskowska Dzierbicka walking into polling station with family
5. SOUNDBITE (Polish) Monika Laskowska Dzierbicka, student:
"That he would cooperate (the new president), that he would be able to resolve disputes, that he would not divide Poles, that we are one common nation."
6. Various of polling station with people voting
7. SOUNDBITE (Polish) Jerzy Iwinski, retiree:
”Mentzen (Slawomir), yes, has quite a sensible program, but too little breakthrough and he will waste his vote. However, here I count on the fact that maybe it will work out, so that it will not end with what they are trying with us today."
8. Close of paperwork
9. Wide of woman at desk signing paperwork
10. SOUNDBITE (Polish) Jerzy Iwinski, retiree:
"What do I want to do? For there to be peace and order, for them to set normal times, for the courts to be courts, for justice to be justice."
11. Close of votes inside box
12. Various of people putting votes into box
13. SOUNDBITE (Polish) Irena Kuczynska, retiree:
"For me, the only candidate is Mr. Karol Nawrocki, and why? From the old days of my family, God, Honor and Fatherland are the most important and that's why I'm with Mr. Nawrocki.
14. Wide of people inside the polling station
STORYLINE:
Poles are voting Sunday in a presidential election at a time of heightened security concerns stemming from the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine and growing worry that the U.S. commitment to Europe’s security could be weakening under President Donald Trump.

The top two front-runners are Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, a liberal allied with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian with no prior political experience who is supported by the national conservative Law and Justice party.

Recent opinion polls show Trzaskowski with around 30% support and Nawrocki in the mid-20s. A second round between the two is widely expected to take place on June 1.

The election is also a test of the strength of other forces, including the far right.

Sławomir Mentzen, a hard-right candidate who blends populist MAGA rhetoric with libertarian economics and a critical stance toward the European Union, has been polling in third place.

Ten other candidates are also on the ballot. With such a crowded field and a requirement that a candidate receive more than 50% of the vote to win outright, a second round seemed all but inevitable.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0500GMT) and close at 9 p.m. (1900GMT). Exit polls will be released when voting ends, with results expected by Tuesday, possibly Monday.

AP Video by Rafal Niedzielski

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