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Polish referendum not binding due to low turnout: exit poll

15.10.2023 23:30
Some 40 percent of Poles voted in Sunday’s nationwide referendum on issues including migration and the retirement age, according to an exit poll, meaning that the results of the vote are not binding, officials said.
Bild:
Bild:PAP/Valdemar Doveiko

The survey was carried out on referendum day by pollster Ipsos, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

Voter turnout in the referendum was 40 percent, the Ipsos poll found.

If confirmed, this means that the results of the referendum will not be binding because the minimum required turnout of 50 percent was not reached, according to officials.

Four referendum questions

Four referendum questions were put to voters on Sunday, as proposed by the government of conservative Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki:

1) “Do you support the sale of state assets to foreign buyers, causing the Polish people to lose control over strategic sectors of the economy?”

To this question, 97.5 percent of referendum voters answered “no,” and 2.5 percent replied “yes,” according to the Ipsos survey. 

2) “Are you in favour of raising the retirement age, including the reintroduction of a higher retirement age of 67 years for men and women?”

Ninety-six percent of voters said “no” to this question, and 4 percent said “yes,” the exit poll found.

3)  “Are you in favour of dismantling the wall on Poland’s border with Belarus?”

To this question, 97.8 percent of referendum participants replied “no,” and 2.2 percent said “yes,” according to the survey.

4)  “Are you in favour of admitting thousands of illegal migrants from the Middle East and Africa under the mandatory relocation mechanism imposed by the European bureaucracy?”

In this case, 98.6 percent of voters answered “no,” and 1.4 percent said “yes,” Ipsos said.

Voter turnout ranged from 47.5 percent in the countryside to 29.2 percent in the biggest cities, according to the Ipsos poll.

The referendum was held on the same day as Poland’s parliamentary election.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, rmf24.pl