Antônio Cotrim / LUSA
Chega’s president, André Ventura
The proposal comes after André Ventura was the candidate most voted by emigrants in the election against António José Seguro. The party criticizes the high costs of traveling to consulates.
Chega wants to change the presidential electoral law to allow voting by correspondence to Portuguese residents abroad, eliminating the obligation to travel to consulates.
The proposal comes after the last presidential elections, in which André Ventura, leader of Chega, was the most voted candidate among emigrants.
Although the PSD has not yet clarified the voting direction, Luís Montenegro has previously defended the modernization of electoral participation mechanisms for emigrants. In a motion presented in 2024, the PSD leader considered “fundamental to ensure that your vote counts as much as that of any other Portuguese person” and defended “the introduction of postal voting in presidential and European elections” to combat abstention.
Chega justifies the initiative with the difficulties faced by many emigrants, pointing out the dispersion of the consular network and the costs associated with travel. The party considers the requirement for in-person voting “manifestly irrational”.
According to , the proposal faces resistance from the PS, which defends the reinforcement of in-person voting, with more voting locations and a greater focus on early voting. For socialists, this model offers greater guarantees of reliability.
The Communist Party also rejects the change, recalling that the vote of emigrants in the presidential elections is conditional on physical presence since the 1997 constitutional review. The PCP argues that, unlike the legislative elections, where only four deputies from emigration circles are at stake, in the presidential elections a single vote can be decisivedemanding greater security guarantees.
Other political forces maintain less defined positions. Livre admits the possibility of expanding voting by correspondence, while Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP) highlights the need to guarantee transparency and trust in the system. Parties such as IL, CDS-PP and BE have not revealed, for now, their voting direction.
