Polish elections

[Sheilbh]

Good - also looks like turnout is on course to increase again which is also great to see. Also always very much liked Tusk so glad to see him back.

Can't find it but I saw a map from the exit poll a little while ago and it looked like Poland A and Poland B is still very much a thing.

[Sahib]

Good - also looks like turnout is on course to increase again which is also great to see. Also always very much liked Tusk so glad to see him back.

Can't find it but I saw a map from the exit poll a little while ago and it looked like Poland A and Poland B is still very much a thing.

Note that it only counts KO not all opposition parties. Still, KO only won one voivodeship (Pomerania) in 2019.

[Grey Fox]

Any breakdown on the polls choices? I voted for #1.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Good - also looks like turnout is on course to increase again which is also great to see. Also always very much liked Tusk so glad to see him back.

Can't find it but I saw a map from the exit poll a little while ago and it looked like Poland A and Poland B is still very much a thing.

Note that it only counts KO not all opposition parties. Still, KO only won one voivodeship (Pomerania) in 2019.

Congress poland sticking out like a sore thumb, just more proof that anything that Russia touches isn't improved by it

[Josquius]

Congress poland sticking out like a sore thumb, just more proof that anything that Russia touches isn't improved by it

What stands out to me more is core-Poland vs. the territory gained after WW2.
Wouldn't the people in the west far more be those with a history under Russian rule?
It is curious nonetheless. I know too little about Poland to begin to guess why they've got this divide- maybe the same old story of new territory settled by a mix of people from around the place and with heavy investment to get the new territory up and running vs. continuing to tick on as usual east?
Industrial west vs. agricultural east?
Post-EU ascention and the west having better links with export markets?

[Sheilbh]

It genuinely might be imperial borders (and not unique to Poland):


But you're right the people in the west of post-war Poland probably came from the east of Poland before the war. That makes me think it's probably more material factors than culture. It was changed under Communism but in 1945 there vastly more dense railway networks, for example, and more connected towns in what is now Poland while in Russian Poland it was a sparser, less connected network. That's one example but it was, maybe, richer and more developed?

As you say because the West is settled I wonder if it's basically a bit of a new society while the East stays slightly peasant more traditional society. I believe the Polish agrarian parties also do a lot better in the East - though they're in the opposition bloc.

[Sahib]

Another map to support the imperial thesis: Senate election results with almost 50% counted.

[Josquius]

Funny little progressive island in the far east of the blue in Shielbh's map there; where the Belarus border heads west.
Bialystok is the big city in the area and it can be seen as more of a neutral place a little to the north west.
I wonder why that rural area is so out of line with its surroundings.

[Sahib]

Funny little progressive island in the far east of the blue in Shielbh's map there; where the Belarus border heads west.
Bialystok is the big city in the area and it can be seen as more of a neutral place a little to the north west.
I wonder why that rural area is so out of line with its surroundings.

Belarusian minority stronghold. They don't like voting for Polish nationalists

[Jacob]

Is the Polish system proportional representation or first past the post?

[Sheilbh]

It's PR - I think party lists and multi-member seats with a threshold but not totally sure

[Sahib]

Is the Polish system proportional representation or first past the post?

Proportional for the Sejm, FTP for the Senate

[Jacob]

Interesting. Thank you.

[Sheilbh]

Fallen down a rabbit hole on this This whole thread is fascinating:
https://x.com/sheemawn/status/1714181402424738055

Edit: In particular really interesting on some of the distinctive features of formerly Austrian Poland as well as how in some cases you can see the shape/impact of interwar Poland too.

Edit: Is this just Poland, is it just more visible/extreme in Poland or is it just that Poland's been screwed so much historically that there's lots of historical borders to look at?

[Josquius]

Fallen down a rabbit hole on this This whole thread is fascinating:
https://x.com/sheemawn/status/1714181402424738055

Edit: In particular really interesting on some of the distinctive features of formerly Austrian Poland as well as how in some cases you can see the shape/impact of interwar Poland too.

Edit: Is this just Poland, is it just more visible/extreme in Poland or is it just that Poland's been screwed so much historically that there's lots of historical borders to look at?

Always worth a disclaimer that correlation doesn't equal causation and all that - the famous relationship between a decline in pirates and global warming for instance.
It's fun and interesting but i imagine there are lots of things that don't link up to the borders.

Though it is a curious thought that maybe it's down to buildings and the built environment in which people grow up and live impacting people as much as we impact our environment.
Those people in the rural east without indoor toilets venting their frustration over icy January shits at immigrants.