Thirteen presidential candidates meet deadline to submit 100,000 signatures

The deadline for presidential candidates to submit a minimum of 100,000 signatures of their supporters elapsed at midnight on Thursday. Thirteen candidates declared Friday that they had met the deadline, but it is still up to the State Electoral Commission (PKW) to verify the signatures. They are Dariusz Grabowski, Piotr Ikonowicz, Jaroslaw Kalinowski, Janus Korwin-Mikke, Marian Krzaklewski, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Andrzej Lepper, Jan Lopuszanski, Andrzej Olechowski, Jan Olszewski, Bogdan Pawlowski, Lech Walesa and Tadeusz Wilecki. The youngest candidate is 38 while the oldest in 70 years old. In terms of popularity, an opinion poll conducted between Aug. 5 and Aug. 7 by the Social Opinion Research Center (OBOP) suggests if the election was held then, the incumbent President Kwasniewski would scoop 64% of the votes. (Rzeczpospolita, Aug. 26-27, page A2)