Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. for voters to elect a head of state from among 11 contenders, including incumbent President Andrzej Duda, who is seeking another five years in office.
His rivals for the presidency include centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski; celebrity journalist Szymon Hołownia; far-right hopeful Krzysztof Bosak; leftist Robert Biedroń; and middle-of-the-road politician Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the rural-based Polish People’s Party (PSL).
The five other candidates are entrepreneur-turned-politician Marek Jakubiak, academic Mirosław Piotrowski, businessman Paweł Tanajno, politician and social activist Waldemar Witkowski, and self-employed business owner Stanisław Żółtek.
Under a set of rules approved by parliament and signed into law earlier this month, the country moved to conduct the election via a mixed system of postal and traditional in-person voting.
The official results of the vote are expected to be announced over the next few days.
If none of the candidates wins more than 50 percent of the vote, under Polish election rules a second round will be held two weeks later, on July 12.
A record 387,000 Poles living abroad registered to vote in the country's presidential election by absentee ballot, according to a Polish deputy foreign minister.
Amid a media blackout that began on Friday at midnight, domestic news organisations were prohibited from publishing opinion polls showing the level of support for candidates.
Under Polish law, such a ban lasts until polling stations close. Political campaigning is also forbidden during this period.
The Polish presidential vote was originally scheduled for May 10, but failed to go ahead amid the COVID-19 epidemic.
(gs/pk)
Source: Polish Radio, IAR, PAP, wybory.gov.pl