Exit poll in Poland's presidential run-off shows race too close to call
An exit poll in Poland's presidential run-off showed that the race was still too close to call.
The results could set the course for the nation's political future and its relations with the European Union.
An Ipsos exit poll released when the voting ended showed that liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski won 50.3% of the vote and conservative historian Karol Nawrocki won 49.7%.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points and the final vote is likely to change.
Presidential candidate Rafal Trzaskowski greets supporters (Petr David Josek/AP)
Both candidates claimed to have won.
'We won,' Mr Trzaskowski told his supporters at an election night event in Warsaw. He vowed that he would be a president for all Poles, including those who did not vote for him.
It looked as if it could be a long evening in Warsaw as the nation waits for the votes to be counted, and Mr Nawrocki said he believed it would turn in his favour.
'We must win tonight,' he said.
The state electoral commission was expected to release the final vote count on Monday, though the result could be clear sooner.
Presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki is a conservative historian (Czarek Sokolowski/AP)
The decisive presidential run-off pitted Mr Trzaskowski, a liberal pro-EU figure, against Mr Nawrocki, a conservative historian backed by the right-wing Law and Justice party.
The outcome will determine whether Poland takes a more nationalist path or pivots more decisively towards liberal democratic norms.
With conservative President Andrzej Duda completing his second and final term, the new president will have significant influence over whether Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centrist government can fulfil its agenda, given the presidential power to veto laws.
The run-off follows a tightly contested first round of voting on May 18, in which Mr Trzaskowski won just over 31% and Mr Nawrocki nearly 30%, eliminating 11 other candidates.
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