António Pedro Santos / Lusa
João Ferreira, from CDU
The Constitutional Court ordered a recount in a section of the parish of São Domingos de Benfica after the CDU’s appeal reduced the vote difference for Chega to just one.
The Constitutional Court (TC) reduced the difference between the CDU and Chega in the election for the Lisbon City Council to just one vote, keeping open the possibility of the communists regaining the mandate of councilor Ana Jara.
According to the , the decision comes after the TC partially accept the appeal presented by the coalition led by João Ferreira and order the recount of the votes in section no. 28 of the parish of São Domingos de Benfica.
According to the ruling released this Friday, the court considered the CDU’s complaint about a discrepancy between the results recorded in the minutes (43 votes) and those appearing in the notice and in the VPN computer system (33 votes) to be valid. The TC understood that the recount should have already taken place during the general counting meeting and has now determined that it will be held next week.
Currently, Chega, led in Lisbon by Bruno Mascarenhas, remains slightly ahead, with 26,754 votes, against 26,753 for the CDU, in a universe of more than 265 thousand voters. If the recount validates the higher number of votes attributed to the CDU in São Domingos de Benfica, the communists could surpass Chega by nine votes and regain the third term in the municipal executive, lost after the initial count.
The Constitutional Court also analyzed the remaining points of the communist appeal, having only recognized one of the five null votes claimed by the CDU. At the same time, it invalidated a vote previously counted in favor of Chega, which contributed to reducing the difference between the two political forces. The request for a “counter-appeal” presented by Chega was, however, rejected, with the court considering that the party’s allegations were “generic” and “baseless”.
The ordered recount will be conducted by the general tabulation assembly and should represent the final stage of an electoral process that has been dragging on for more than ten days.
The outcome may change the composition of Lisbon City Council: if the CDU regains its mandate, it will once again have two councilors, reducing the number of Chega representatives to one.
