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In gray and drizzly weather, Poles on Sunday took the final step toward Western-style governmental reforms by electing local councils to take over powers held by the central government during the communist era.
During 14 hours of balloting, voters chose from 260,000 candidates to fill 63,767 seats on provincial, district, city and neighborhood councils. Official results were expected Wednesday.
Officials predicted a turnout of less than 50 percent of the 28.6 million eligible voters, with many people unhappy over economic hardships such as high unemployment brought on by the reforms.
