Poland waits for final election result after ruling party and opposition claim a win

abcnews.go.com:

Projections show that the majority of voters in Poland’s general election supported opposition parties

WARSAW, Poland — The majority of voters in Poland's general election supported opposition parties that promised to reverse democratic backsliding and repair the nation's relationship with allies, including the European Union and Ukraine, according to projections Monday.

After a bitter and emotional campaign, turnout was projected at almost 73%, the highest level in the country's 34 years of democracy and surpassing the 63% who turned out in the historic 1989 vote that toppled communism. In the city of Wroclaw, the lines were so long that voting continued through the night until nearly 3 a.m.

A so-called late exit poll by Ipsos suggested that voters had grown tired of the governing nationalist Law and Justice party after eight years of divisive policies that led to frequent street protests, bitter divisions within families and billions of euros (dollars) in funding held up by the EU over rule of law violations.

Poland's currency, the zloty, strengthened against the dollar and the euro on news of the opposition gains.

The outcome could also affect ties with neighboring Ukraine, which Poland has supported in the war against Russia's aggression. The good relations soured in September over Ukraine grain entering and affecting Poland's market.

The Ipsos poll showed that three centrist opposition parties that campaigned on a promise to reverse the illiberal drift of the government had together secured around 248 seats in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, or Sejm, a clear majority.

“I am really overjoyed now," Magdalena Chmieluk, a 43-year-old accountant, said Monday morning. The opposition «will form a government and we