80 years after the first free and modern Polish elections, voters will head to the polls across the country today to elect candidates for both houses of the Polish parliament.
Polling stations opened this morning at 7am and will remain open until 9pm tonight. Some 30 million registered voters in Poland and abroad will be electing 460 deputies from among 5,112 potential candidates and 100 senators from a pool of 278 candidates, each for a term of four years.
Conducting surveys, campaigning, or reporting on election results has been forbidden by Polish law since 1991. A media blackout regarding the election took effect at midnight on Friday, and will continue until after polls close this evening at 9pm. According to Polish election law, publishing opinion polls during this period is punishable by a fine of up to 1 million złoty, or over 200,000 euro.
For election results, tune in tomorrow at noon or visit us online after 9pm for “exit polling” and results as they come in.
Last Thursday saw the official launch of the Albatros, the second in a series of three vessels built at the Remontowa shipyard for the purpose of seeking out and destroying unexploded ordnance, specifically mines.
Even though more than 70 years have passed since WWII, Mine Countermeasure Vessels (MCMVs) like the Albatros are still needed for dealing with explosive remnants of war; during the recent construction of a gas terminal, 6,000 unexploded artillery shells, sea mines, and large aerial bombs had to be removed in order for construction to proceed.
The ship is fitted with technology specialized for the task including a magnetic steel hull, specialized propulsion and steering systems, and sonar, drones and explosives used to detect and destroy dangerous objects.
An additional Kormoran II class MCMV is currently under construction, with the Albatros set to enter service in 2020 alongside her sister vessel, the Kormoran, which has been in service since 2017.
The Urząd Miejski in Sopot recently became the first municipal office in Poland to install “smile counters,” digital electronic devices that measure how often a clerk or client is smiling.
A sensor in the devices “reads” facial muscle movement, and using artificial intelligence, determines if the person is smiling. According to Bartosz Rychlicki of Quantum CX, the Gdańsk-based company producing the devices, the program does not collect personal data and does not remember or recognize faces.
The goal of the program is to assess and improve the customer service experience, and Quantum CX will be collecting data on participants for the next four months. Under the current system, smiles are awarded points, which are then exchanged for monetary donations to a chosen charity. The Finance Department at Sopot City Hall has already collected 137 złoty, which will be donated to the orphanage „Na Wzgórze” in Sopot.
Residents can test out the technology for themselves at one of five kiosks in the civil and financial departments at the Urząd Miejski in Sopot.After dominating Australia last Thursday, the Polish men’s volleyball team narrowly lost to top-ranked Brazil this morning at the FIVB Volleyball World Cup in Japan.
Since their disappointing loss to the third-ranked American team early in the tournament, the Poles have been on a winning streak, putting them solidly in second place behind the undefeated Brazilian team. The two top-ranked teams faced off this morning in Hiroshima, with the Poles narrowly losing to the still-undefeated Brazlians in a closely contested five sets.
Poland has two additional matches remaining in the tournament, one against 9th-ranked Canada at 5:30am Polish time tomorrow, and against 7th-ranked Iran on Tuesday morning, also at 5:30am Polish time.
In other sporting news, the Polish national football team is solidly in first place in Group G of the European Qualifiers after their decisive 3:0 win against Latvia in Riga last week. The White and Red will face off tonight against third-ranked North Macedonia at Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw at 8:45pm.
RGEN
