The turnout at the polls until 4:00 p.m. local time (same GMT time) this Sunday in the presidential elections was 45.51%, a figure that exceeds the total participation in the last elections of this type held, in 2021, which was 39.24%, according to data from the General Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Administration.
In relation to the influx until the same time compared to 2021, today’s figure is ten percentage points higher, since in that year it was 35.4% until 4:00 p.m.
The last presidential elections were held in 2021 during the covid-19 pandemic. On that occasion, the current president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, won, running for re-election and being elected with the lowest turnout in an election of this type. During this morning, there have been countless calls from the candidates for citizens to exercise their right to vote and for there to be a great mobilization.
The centers in continental Portugal and Madeira began their activity this Sunday at 08:00 local time (same GMT time) and will close their doors at 19:00 local time (same GMT time), while in the Azores they will do so sixty minutes later because they are in a different time zone. More than 11 million Portuguese are called to the polls throughout this day, of which more than 1.7 million reside abroad.
The latest polls suggest that there will be a second round in 21 days, on February 8, since no candidate is expected to exceed 50% of the votes.
The survey by the CESOP center of the Portuguese Catholic University for the media RTP, Antena 1 and Público, published on Tuesdayindicates that the far-right leader André Ventura would come first today, followed by the former general secretary of the Socialist Party António José Seguro, although in a second round the latter would be the foreseeable winner.
They are followed, according to this study, in intention to vote this Sunday by the MEP João Cotrim Figueiredo, supported by Liberal Initiative (IL), the former minister and conservative political commentator Luís Marques Mendes, who has received the support of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD, center-right), and the admiral in the reserve Henrique Gouveia e Melo, former chief of the Navy General Staff.
