Posted on 24 January 2021.
Social Democrat (PSD), 72, was reelected, on Sunday, for a second five-year mandate with 61% of votes above his 52% win in 2016. He takes office officially on March 9, 2021.
Center-left Ana Gomes (PS/13%) won a distant second place while populist André Ventura (Chega/12%) won a third place. Other contenders included, Marisa Matias (Bloco Esquerda/BE/4.30%); João Ferreira (Partido Comunista/PC/4.32%); Tiago Mayan Gonçalves (Initiativa Liberal/IL/3.22%); and Vitor Silva (RIR/2.94%).
Absenteeism was high with a turnout of 45.45%, a decrease of 4.6 percentage points when compared to the 2016 election, which was the lowest drop in turnout in an election with an incumbent running since 1980.
Polls open in Portugal
The polling stations for the presidential elections opened today at 8am.
According to the spokesman for the National Elections Commission (CNE), João Tiago Machado, polling stations opened across the country without major problems and without any reported cases of boycotts.
The main complaints were related to “complaints from people in queues, waiting for the counting of early votes”, and the situation is now normalised.
The waiting time in these cases varied depending on the amount of early votes received in each parish, explained João Tiago Machado, specifying that there were places that had “zero early votes” to count, but there were others that had many, such as Cascais, that will have had more than five thousand votes.
Marcelo ahead in polls By TPN/Lusa, in News, Sport · 22-01-2021 14:29:00 · 0 Comments
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is predicted to win the presidential elections on 24 January in the first round with 58 percent and the socialist Ana Gomes appears in the second position, with 14.5 percent, according to an ISCTE survey / ICS for Express and SIC.
In terms of losses and gains compared to the previous poll, Marcelo, supported by PSD and CDS, drops eight points, Ana Gomes rises 1.5 and André Ventura has 3.5 more points.
On the left, Marisa Matias, supported by BE, and João Ferreira, supported by PCP and Verdes, have 6 percent in voting intentions. In relation to the previous survey, Marisa loses one percentage point, the same as Ferreira.
Presidential elections in Portugal: early voting is triggered by the pandemic explica.co - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from explica.co Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
January 24: Portuguese to elect next president – Portugal
Portuguese voters will cast their ballots, on January 24, for the country’s next president.
Incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, 72, is set to lead the vote, with polls showing he may get over the 50% needed to claim an outright win for a second five-year term.
If the presidential elections were now, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa would be reelected, in the first round, with 68% of the votes, according to the most recent polls.
Also running are candidates Ana Gomes (Partido Socialista/PS), André Ventura (Chega); Tiago Mayan Gonçalves (Initiativa Liberal/IL); Marisa Matias (Bloco Esquerda/BE); João Ferreira (Partido Comunista/PC ); and Vitor Silva (RIR).