Centrist Candidate Wins First Round of Poland’s Presidential Election

Jerusalem, 19 May, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- (PAP)- Rafal Trzaskowski, the centrist candidate of the ruling Civic Coalition party, won 31.36 percent of the votes in the Polish presidential election on Sunday, overtaking his right-wing rival, Karol Nawrocki, who secured 29.54 percent, Sylwester Marciniak, the head of the National Electoral Commission (PKW), told reporters on Monday morning, presenting official results from 100 percent of voting districts.

Trzaskowski and Nawrocki, backed by Poland’s former ruling party, the socially-conservative Law and Justice, will face off in the second round of the presidential election in Poland on June 1.

Far-right candidate Slawomir Mentzen of the Confederation party secured third place with 14.81 percent of the vote, Marciniak added.

Another far-right candidate, Grzegorz Braun, took 6.34 percent of the vote, while lower house speaker Szymon Holownia received support from 4.99 percent of voters. Left-wing Adrian Zandberg achieved 4.86 percent and The Left’s Magdalena Biejat obtained 4.23 percent of the vote.

Support for the remaining six candidates ranged from 1.2 to 0.1 percent, the PKW head said.

The voter turnout for the presidential election held on Sunday was reported at 67.31 percent, Marciniak said.

“This year’s voter turnout in the first round of presidential elections was the highest in the history of the Third Republic of Poland,” he said. “The previous record for voter turnout in the first round of presidential elections was set in 1995, with a participation rate of 64.70 percent.”

Marciniak also reported that the total number of valid votes cast on Sunday was just over 19.6 million, whereas the count of invalid votes amounted to 85,813.

The highest voter turnout on Sunday was observed in the Mazowieckie province in central Poland, reaching 73.04 percent, while the lowest was in the Opolskie province in western Poland, where it amounted to 57.64 percent.

This year’s voter turnout in the first round of the presidential election exceeded the turnout recorded in 2020, which was 64.51 percent.