Seguro surpasses Soares and has the highest vote ever for a President

With 21 parishes remaining to be counted, António José Seguro had already collected 3,477,717 votes cast, surpassing the 3,459,521 obtained by Mário Soares in the 1991 presidential elections.

The new President of the Republic, António José Seguroobtained the highest vote ever in Presidential Elections, surpassing the number of votes obtained by Mario Soares in the 1991 presidential elections. In percentage terms, however, Seguro falls short of Soares’ 70.35%.

At the time of this edition, with 21 parishes remaining to be determined, Seguro has already guaranteed 3,477,717 votes cast. In the 1991 elections, Mário Soares was re-elected, first round, with 3,459,521 (70.35%)against those obtained by Basílio Horta, who came in second place, with 696,379 votes (14.16%).

In this election, Mário Soares obtained not only the highest percentage vote and number of votes, but also the biggest margin ever for the second most voted candidate: 56,19%.

The second highest vote ever (now third) in a presidential election was obtained by Ramalho Eaneswho in 1980 was re-elected as President of the Republic, in the first round, 3,262,520 votes (56.44%). This was also the most participated presidential election ever: people voted 84.39% of registered voters.

Only in two other presidential elections did the elected candidate surpass the 3 million votes: Jorge Sampaioin 1996, with 3,035,056 votes (53.91%), and again Mário Soares, but in the 2nd round, in the mythical 1996 presidential elections, in which the PS candidate beat Freitas do Amaral with 3,010,756 votes (51.18%).

This was also the election with lowest margin ever: 138,692 votes (2.36%) difference between Mário Soares and Freitas do Amaral.

This was the 11th time that the Portuguese were called upon to choose the President of the Republic in democracy, since 1976. The current President of the Republic, elected in 2016, is Marcelo Rebelo de Sousawhich ends its term in March 2026.

Since 1976, António Ramalho Eanes (1976-1986), Mário Soares (1986-1996), Jorge Sampaio (1996-2006), Cavaco Silva (2006-2016) and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (2016-2026).