Politicians investigate ways of encouraging voter turnout in EU referendum

Parliamentary Deputies have asked the Public Affairs Institute (ISP) to prepare ways of improving voter turnout in EU referendum scheduled later this year. The Institute prepared six options. One involves keeping ballot stations opened for two days - Saturday and Sunday. The public are used to voting on one day only - Sunday. Rzeczpospolita unofficially learned that President Aleksander Kwasniewski is against this proposal as he is afraid of voting irregularities. ISP director Lena Kolarska-Bobinska said, "A two-day referendum would substantially make it easier for people to cast their ballot." Deputy head of the Sejm European Commission Marek Kotlinowski said, "It is just a matter of organizational solutions. Every proposition encouraging the public to vote is good." The ISP has also proposed the use of postal and Internet voting. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A3) M.M.