An interesting opinion poll shed new light on the turnout in the Polish presidential election. According to the survey, almost half of the voters for opposition-backed Rafal Trzaskowski did not believe in the candidate, they just did not want the ruling party to win.

The Social Changes research institute has conducted a survey which yielded some interesting results. The institute asked citizens voting in the presidential elections in Poland why they had voted for a specific candidate: because they really supported them or because they did not want the opponent to win.

The conclusions are firmly positive for re-elected President Andzej Duda. Three quarters of the votes cast for him were given by those who genuinely supported him, and only 24 per cent of the people voted for him out of concern for the fate of Poland in case Trzaskowski had won.

In contrast, a large part of the votes for liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski were cast against the government rather than as an expression of confidence in the abilities of the mayor of Warsaw. Forty-eight per cent of his voters said they voted against Duda rather than for Trzaskowski.

According to wPolitice, this means a particularly strong mandate for President Andrzej Duda and points out that the opposition campaign had focused on smearing him.