UK-based Poles vote as Poland holds parliamentary election

Record ID: 1436579

  • Title: UK-based Poles vote as Poland holds parliamentary election
  • Date: 13th October 2019
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (OCTOBER 13, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLISH NATIONALS QUEUING OUTSIDE POLISH EMBASSY IN LONDON TO VOTE SIGN READING (Polish): 'TO THE POLLING STATION" BALLOTS BEING PUT INTO BALLOT BOX WOMAN PUTTING BALLOT INTO BALLOT BOX BALLOTS IN BOX MAN PUTTING BALLOT INTO BOX BALLOTS IN BOX (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) POLISH NATIONAL WHO HAS BEEN LIVING IN LONDON FOR 12 YEARS, PIOTR KAPELANSKI, 42, SAYING: "I think it is important to vote for what is happening in Poland now. We still have no plans on what do we want to do in a few years. It might turn out we will go back to Poland. Regardless, it is important to me what is happening in Poland and I don't really like what is happening in Poland at the moment that is why I wanted to vote to have a say in what is happening in Poland." WOMAN HOLDING PEN, LOOKING AT BALLOT PAPER VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING BEHIND SCREENS SHOWING COAT OF ARMS OF POLAND (SOUNDBITE) (English) POLISH NATIONAL WHO HAS BEEN LIVING IN LONDON FOR 4.5 YEARS, ZUZANNA GRODZKA, 23, SAYING: "I live in London at the moment but I don't know if I'll be coming back home at some point and I think it's very important to actually decide what's going on in the country where our families and where our friends live, and I think it's really important to talk about it, about the future of the country because whether we're coming back or not I think it's still our identity and we have to really take care of that." VARIOUS OF IDENTITIES BEING CHECKED (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) POLISH NATIONAL WHO HAS BEEN LIVING IN LONDON FOR 6 YEARS, BART STASICA, 28, SAYING: "I think it is important to cast your vote for your country, for what we consider as the right thing even when we live abroad." POLISH AND EUROPEAN UNION FLAGS OUTSIDE EMBASSY
  • Embargoed: 27th October 2019 10:28
  • Keywords: Poles in UK Polish nationals London Polish election parliamentary election casting vote
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: Poland
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B0XK4E1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: London-based Polish nationals cast votes on Sunday (October 13) as Poland hold a parliamentary election.
    Polish Embassy in the United Kingdom opened a record number of 54 polling stations around the country to serve almost 100,000 registered voters.
    "I don't know if I'll be coming back home at some point and I think it's very important to actually decide what's going on in the country," a 23-year-old Zuzanna Grodzka who has been living in London for four and a half years told Reuters.
    About 900,000 Poles live in Britain, according to official figures published by Office for National Statistics in May, making them the largest non-British population in the United Kingdom.
    Poland's nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party hope to strengthen its grip on power following Sunday's election, in a likely win for populist anti-immigration groups in the European Union.
    Public opinion surveys show PiS, a eurosceptic grouping with a left-leaning economic programme, could garner 40-46% of votes, while the biggest opposition group, the centrist Civic Platform, is polling at less than 30%.
    (Production: Will Russell, Helena Williams, Malgorzata Wojtunik)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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