Poland's ruling party takes lead in parliamentary polls

Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) took a lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections with 36.8 percent of votes, according to an exit poll, reported Xinhua.

The exit poll by global polling research firm Ipsos showed that PiS, running in coalition with smaller partners, gained 200 seats in the lower house of the parliament, short of a majority in the 460-seat Sejm.

The Civic Coalition dominated by the Civic Platform party was in the second place with 31.6 percent of votes, and the Third Way alliance gained 13 percent, according to the exit poll, which is reported to have a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

At more than 31,000 polling stations across the country and overseas, Poles cast their ballots on Sunday to elect 460 members of Sejm and 100 senators for a four-year term.

Over 29 million Poles aged 18 and above are eligible to vote. According to Ipsos, the voter turnout hit a record high at 72.9 percent.

A referendum with four questions about privatization of state assets, retirement age, immigration and Polish-Belarusian border control was also held on Sunday. However, the Ipsos poll suggested that the referendum turnout was 40 percent, lower than the 50-percent validity threshold.

The official results of the elections are expected by Tuesday noon.