Poland: President Duda declared winner of July 12 presidential vote /update 2

Event

On Monday, July 13, the National Electoral Commission declared that incumbent president, Andrzej Duda, has won the presidential election held on Sunday, July 12. Duda was elected over his rival, Rafal Trzaskowski, on a narrow margin of 51.2 percent, securing his second term in office.

Due to the closeness of the result, and the contentious nature of the run-up to the election, there is potential for demonstrations in the coming days in the vicinity of government and party offices in Warsaw and other major cities.

Advice

Although not all constituencies have reported, Duda's victory represents the closest presidential election result since the transition from communism in 1989 despite a low turnout of 68.2 percent. Major issues in the run-up to the election have included Poland's relations with the EU, as well as Duda's reforms to the country's judicial system and his stance on LGBTQ+ rights. An opposition group has stated that it was monitoring reports of irregularities occurring during the voting process; however, it is unclear if this will produce a legal challenge to the result.