Poland Election: Women and Youth Force Right Wing Party, PiS from Power: BBC

Poland election: Women & youth force PiS from power, BBC News, Oct. 20, 2023. Ed.

It was 01:33 on Monday when Szymon Szumniak dropped his voting slip into the ballot box at Wroclaw Polling Station No 148. The entertainment blogger had been queuing in the biting cold with hundreds of others for 6 hours, long after the polls should have closed.

The giant queue has become a symbol of the high level of engagement with Poland's parliamentary election, where a record high turnout of over 74% ousted the right-wing Law and Justice party, or PiS, from power. "People gave us blankets, hot tea, cookies. The hospitality of residents in that area was incredible!" said the 26-year-old.

At one point, a group of women broke into song. At another, a local pizza company delivered heaps of free food. The firm was so inundated with donations the next day from grateful Poles, it began redirecting the cash to charity. Szymon never once thought of giving up and going home.

"We're building our future and I think a lot of young people understood that," the blogger told me from Wroclaw.

He didn't want to reveal who he voted for but was "happy with the way things turned out." "The queue was long and painful but the people made it a cool experience." Youth vote for change: Polls show that 68.8% of voters aged under 29 turned out, a major surge from 46.4% at the last parliamentary election in 2019. More young people cast their ballots this time than the over-60s, which is also highly unusual.

Many of them voted for change...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67156864