More than 10 million voters are called on the polls on Sunday to elect the 230 deputies to the Assembly of the Republic in the next legislature and where the new government will come from.
The voting tables opened at 08h00 and will be open until 19h00 in mainland Portugal and Madeira, while in the Azores open and close an hour later in the time of Lisbon, due to the time difference.
According to the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (SGMAI), they can vote for today’s early legislative elections 10.8 million voters.
These are the 19.ªs Elections for Parliamentaccounting for the elections to the Constituent Assembly of April 25, 1975.
Last Sunday, more than 314 thousand voters of the 333,347 registered for early vote have already exercised their rightcorresponding to an influx of 94.45%, according to the balance sent to Lusa by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
This number exceeds the registered in the 2024 legislative elections, where a 93.8% participation rate was registered in early mobility vote.
230 deputies and a government
In total, 230 deputies will be elected in 22 electoral circles -18 of which in mainland Portugal and the remaining in the Azores, Madeira, Europe and outside Europe -in an electoral act that will cost the 26.5 million euros.
Compete for these elections 21 Political forcesthree more than in the March elections last year.
O Liberal Social Party (PLS) is the only debutant party In this electoral act, joining AD (PSD/CDS-PP), PS, arrives, IL, BE, CDU (PCP/PEV), FREE, PAN, ADN, RIR, JPP, PCTP/MRPP, NEW RIGHT, VOLT PORTUGUES PSD/CDS/PPM.
Abstention has been going down
The abstention rate has dropped in the last two legislative elections, after the rise tendency for decades, having reached the highest value since 1975 by reaching 51.43%.
In previous legislatures of March 10, 2024, the abstention rate was 40.10%, and a descent in relation to legislatures of 2022, in which the abstention rate reached 48.54%.
The current legislature, which would end only in 2028, was interrupted after the lead of a motion of trust presented by the executive Minority PSD/CDS-PP, which featured the votes against the PS, arrives, BE, PCP, Free and Single Representative of PAN.
This text emerged after the presentation of two censorship motions of the government (from PCP and arrives, both rejected) and an inquiry commission proposed by the PS, and was justified by the Prime Minister with the need for “political clarification”.
At the center of the political crisis there were news about the Prime Minister’s family company, which raised doubts of the opposition about any conflicts of interest and Accusations of lack of transparency to Luís Montenegro.
