Paulo Novais / Lusa
According to data from the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, voter turnout up to 12pm was above what was recorded in the first round. Candidates António José Seguro and André Ventura have already exercised their right.
Voter turnout in the second round of the presidential elections was, until 12pm today, at 22.35%.
In the first round, on January 18, at the same time, turnout was 21.18%, which translates into an increase of 1.17 percentage points. The abstention rate reached 47.6%.
In the 2021 presidential elections, in a year of pandemic, voter turnout at 12:00 was 17.07% and in 2016 it was 15.82%.
António José Seguro and André Ventura have already voted
The presidential candidate António José Seguro asked voters to take advantage of “the open in bad weather” to go vote and say “what they want and who they want for President of the Republic”.
Seguro voted at Escola Secundária Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, in Caldas da Rainha, for 10:30 am, accompanied by his wife, Margarida Maldonado Freitas. Upon leaving, in statements to journalists, the first words were of condolences to the family of the firefighter who died in Campo Maior the day before and also of solidarity with all the families affected by the bad weather.
“I hope that this opening of time allows people to come and vote. This is the moment in which the people are sovereign, in which every vote counts and really decides the future of our country”, he appealed, considering that this is a “very important” decision.
“My appeal is very simple: to all Portuguese people, don’t let them choose for you. Get out of the house and come vote. Vote, vote, vote, vote, vote. This is the best tribute they can pay to democracy”, he asked.
On “democracy day, when all Portuguese people must exercise their right to vote”, the former PS leader told journalists that he was still going to “have breakfast”, then he will have “a family lunch, as always”, so that in the afternoon he can prepare, receive the results and go to the Caldas da Rainha Cultural and Congress Center, where it will be his election night again, “to be with his supporters and make a statement to the country”.
The presidential candidate Andre Venturaon the contrary, considered “a disrespectful to ask people to go vote“, taking into account the situation in some areas of the country due to the floods, but hopes that “everyone will be able to fulfill their duty”.
“Today is the day to create democracy, I hope that everyone can achieve it for the country, because the circumstances are very difficult, and that everyone can fulfill this duty and express the will of who they want for the future and what type of country they want”, André Ventura told journalists after voting at the Escola Básica do Parque das Nações, in Lisbon, accompanied by his wife, Dina Antunes Ventura.
“It was disrespectful to tell people to vote on a day like today, especially considering what happened in the last 24 hours”, he highlighted, stressing that “there are many areas of the country where people feel disrespected and second-rate Portuguese”.
The candidate also said that “from the moment the poor public decided” that it was time to vote, the Portuguese must “comply with the instructions of the public powers” and “participate as much as they can, so as not to leave the future in the hands of others”.
Polls close at 7pm
The polls for the presidential elections opened today at 8am in mainland Portugal and Madeira and an hour later in the Azores due to the time difference, closing at 7pm.
There are, however, municipalities where the election was postponed due to the devastation caused by the bad weather in recent weeks, which caused 14 deaths, hundreds of injuries and displacement, and left a trail of destruction.
More than 11 million voters are called to choose the new President of the Republic, in a vote that pits António José Seguro against André Ventura, the two most voted on January 18th.
In the first vote, Seguro obtained 31.1% of the votes and Ventura 23.52%according to the notice for the general tabulation of results.
