'Very close': Polish district divided by single vote braces for election runoff

Poles will cast their votes in the closest presidential runoff since the fall of communism tomorrow, in an election that pits two different visions of Poland against each other.

- Jakub Krupa

In the 2020 election, the conservative populist incumbent, Andrzej Duda, won the second-round vote over the pro-Europe Warsaw mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski, by 51% to 49%.

This time it could be even closer. Polls show the difference between Trzaskowski and the nationalist rightwing historian Karol Nawrocki, who is backed by the Law and Justice party (PiS), which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023, to be within the margin of error.

At stake is whether the coalition government led by Donald Tusk, Trzaskowski's political patron, will be able to pursue its progressive agenda or have it further blocked by a critical opposition president armed with the power to veto laws.

In Siekierczyn, a rural municipality with 4,265 residents across eight villages in the south-west of Poland, the first round was decided by a single vote, catapulting the hitherto unknown area into the spotlight.

"You probably often heard: 'my vote won't change anything'. But look at Siekierczyn," the winner, Trzaskowski, said in a social media video, rallying voters before the runoff.

Noticeboards in the village are plastered with posters of candidates, and the mayor, Dariusz Furdykon, 48, cherishes the attention that comes with the close result.