Record 608,000 register to vote abroad in Poland’s elections

A final total of 608,000 Polish citizens have registered to vote abroad in this Sunday’s parliamentary elections – a figure almost equal to the population of Poland’s fourth-largest city, Łódź.

It is by far the highest-ever number of overseas voters in any Polish election, surpassing the 385,000 who registered for the 2020 presidential vote. It is also almost double the 314,000 who registered for the last parliamentary elections in 2019.

In those last two elections, a significant majority of overseas voters chose parties and candidates among the current opposition, and experts expect a similar outcome this time.

Spośród 608 tys zarejestrowanych wyborców karty powinny zostać wydane 550 tys głosujących (90,5% uprawnionych w 2019). Możemy oszacować, że 70% z nich (64% w 2019) padnie na centrolewicową opozycję (ok. 390-400 tys) a pozostałe 150-160 tys. na @pisorgpl i @KONFEDERACJA_.

— Marcin Palade (@MarcinPalade) October 11, 2023

In a statement to Notes from Poland, the foreign ministry confirmed the figure of 608,000, which has been reported unofficially in Polish media since yesterday. They noted, however, that “slight fluctuations in this number are possible” as registrations are processed before the elections on 15 October.

Such high demand has raised concerns about polling stations abroad being overwhelmed. The foreign ministry’s online system for overseas voter registration issued warnings to users that certain electoral commissions were particularly popular and suggested they register at a different one.

“By enrolling in a commission with a low number of voters, you will be able to avoid queues to cast your vote,” the message informed.

The notifications concerned six European countries in particular: Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden and Luxembourg. The embassy in the Netherlands even suggested that voters there could instead register in neighbouring Germany and Belgium.

When Poles in Ireland registered to vote in Sunday’s elections, the foreign ministry told them there would be long queues at all Irish polling stations and it would be better to vote elsewhere.

Which is problematic given that Ireland is an island, notes @TomaszSkory of @RMF24pl pic.twitter.com/lzthnIzUcb

— Daniel Tilles (@danieltilles1) October 11, 2023

Two opposition election candidates, Adam Bodnar and Aleksander Pociej, this week called on the electoral commission to extend the 24-hour deadline for overseas polling stations to submit voting results.

But at a press conference this week, Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau dismissed such concerns, saying that officials are “spectacularly well prepared” for the elections.

He noted that, in order to address the exceptionally high interest in voting abroad, the ministry increased the number of electoral commissions abroad. There are now 417 of them, up from 320 in 2019 and 250 in 2015.

However, yesterday the ministry announced that, due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, the voting district in Tel Aviv has been forced to close. Voters registered there have until today to re-register elsewhere.

Almost 400,000 Poles have registered to vote abroad in this Sunday’s elections – equivalent to the population of Poland’s seventh-largest city, Szczecin.

In what is a close race, many in the Polish diaspora hope their votes could be crucial to the outcome https://t.co/oF363ZLxL6

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 9, 2023

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Main image credit: Grzegorz Jakubowski/KPRP

Agata Pyka is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a journalist and a political communication student at the University of Amsterdam. She specialises in Polish and European politics as well as investigative journalism and has previously written for Euractiv and The European Correspondent.