Abstention: the danger of comparisons - News Room USA

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Abstention: the danger of comparisons

47.65% of voters did not vote for the presidential elections. In 2021 it was the peak of the pandemic; in 2011 it was another re-election…

In the 2026 presidential elections, 52.35% of voters voted, according to . That is, the abstention was from 47,65%.

It has been – and it is true – that this percentage of abstention is the lowest in the last 20 years in presidential. But there are several factors to consider when making comparisons.

First, what do these 20 years involve? 20 elections? 10? No, actually they were just three. Or four, if we count this Sunday: 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026. Therefore, the total “cake” of comparisons, of the victory of the smallest abstention, is very small.

Second, it has also been highlighted that abstention in previous presidential (2021) was much higher, at 60.76%. It’s also true. But in , we were in COVID-19 spikes; many people were afraid to leave the house, for whatever reason. It is natural that abstention was so high.

Third, and continuing in 2021 but also including 2011: the presidential elections of those two years were re-elections. First, Cavaco Silva, then Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. As has always happened in Portugal, the post-25th of April President of the Republic always stayed in Belém for two terms. It was “won”. Many people didn’t even go to vote. There is a greater tendency to abstain when the second term of a President of the Republic is at stake.

Four, returning to the present: there had never been 11 candidates and there had never been, in presidential elections, the “factor Ventura” with so much force. These two variants drove more voters to the polls.

Fifth, we need to look at who was a candidate in 2006when abstention was much lower (37.4%): Cavaco Silva, Manuel Alegre, Mário Soares, Jerónimo Sousa, Francisco Louçã and Garcia Pereira. Greater adherence is understood.

Fifth and last, but perhaps the most important point: a abstention of 47.65%… continues to be very high. Almost half of voters preferred not to vote at all.