While voting in the second round of the presidential election has already begun in Poland, polling stations across the United States have already closed. A record number of ballots were likely cast there—by both members of the Polish-American community and tourists.
The last polling stations in the U.S. to close were those on the West Coast—in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. Voting took place from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM local time. In total, the election was conducted across 57 precincts in 23 states and the District of Columbia. More than 60,000 people registered to vote in the second round—a record number to date. Compared to the first round, the number of voters increased by more than one-third.
Queues formed at some polling stations, such as the Consulate General in New York, where the highest number of participants—2,400 people—had declared their intention to vote. In addition, a significant number of tourists with voting certificates were present. There was also increased turnout—though without queues—in smaller precincts, such as in Washington, D.C.
As in every election, the largest number of precincts and voters was once again found in the two biggest centres of the Polish diaspora in the United States: the areas around Chicago and New York, where nearly 20,000 people registered to vote in each region. On the U.S. West Coast, the highest turnout was in San Francisco and Los Angeles—with over 1,400 voters in each city—both setting new records.
The results will not be announced until voting concludes in Poland. However, according to Consul Rychlik, the record turnout should not pose challenges for vote counting, and the results from U.S. polling stations are likely to be among the first to be published. In addition to the United States, on Saturday Poles also cast their votes in other countries across the Western Hemisphere: Canada, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina.