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We follow here the main events of this Sunday, the day of the presidential elections, from the vote to the ballot and the reactions of the political protagonists in the special broadcast of RTP.
Polling stations for the presidential elections closed at 7:00 p.m. in mainland Portugal and Madeira. The same happens for an hour in the Azores, due to the time difference.
The estimate of the Catholic University for RTP places abstention in these presidential elections between 50 and 55 percent. Voter turnout is between 45 and 50 percent according to this estimate.
The participation data were calculated based on the results of electoral participation at 4:00 p.m. released by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration at 5:00 p.m.
It is recalled that in the last presidential elections, in 2016, the abstention rate was 51.3%.
The participation estimate is only indicative and is not based on the data from the survey that the Catholic University is conducting for RTP.
The electoral night of the candidates had to adapt to the confinement and sanitary regulations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A few minutes before the polls closed, this was the atmosphere experienced in the campaign headquarters of the different candidates.
18h39 – Photo Gallery: The portrait of the electoral day
When there is only half an hour left to close the polls in mainland Portugal, remember that, as in other ballots, voters who are in line to vote at 7:00 p.m. will be able to vote after that time.
Polling stations have few lines of voters, at a time when there is less than an hour to close the polls in mainland Portugal.
The turnout at 4:00 pm in the presidential elections, 35.4%, is the second lowest since the 2006 elections, the year in which this figure began to be disclosed by the electoral administration.
This figure was only lower in the presidential elections of 2011, when the turnout at 4 p.m. was 35.1%, 2.3 percentage points below the elections five years ago.
In the 2016 presidential elections, which elected Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, 37.7% had voted at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, in an election in which global abstention amounted to 51.3%.
João Tiago Machado, spokesman for the National Electoral Commission (CNE), admits errors in the polling stations, but says that there are only a dozen complaints from voters.
Participation in these Presidential elections was up to 4:00 p.m. with 35.44%, according to data from the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration (SGMAI). In the last presidential elections, on January 24, 2016, at the same time, the turnout was 37.69%.
Ricardo Ferreira Reis, director of the voting center of the Catholic University, tells RTP that the data indicates a strong turnout compared to expectations.
“The most pessimistic scenarios pointing to abstention of 70 to 75 percent are completely excluded. At the moment, abstention can no longer be above 64 percent and people continue voting after 4 in the afternoon, ”he says.
He adds that participation is “above expectations”, taking into account the situation of the pandemic.
6:00 p.m. – Voting nears the end
One hour left to close the polls. Voting day was marked by health rules so that the Covid-19 pandemic would not affect voter turnout.
A RTP has accompanied, from the morning, the Portuguese go to the polls. In most parts of the country, the queues advanced rapidly and containment measures such as distance and the use of a mask were enforced.
In Morgado, Montalegre, the voting began later, after the voting table was crossed, in the morning, the doors locked and blocked by garbage containers, a form of protest by the local population against the exploitation of a lithium mine in the parish.
It is the tenth time in a democracy, since 1976, that the Portuguese are called upon to elect the President of the Republic.
At 4 pm, turnout at the polls had been 35.44 percent. In the last presidential elections, in 2016, the turnout up to the same time was 37.69 percent.
Updated abstention projections will appear shortly and we will follow the voting results in real time shortly thereafter.
Seven candidates are running for these elections: Marisa Matias, supported by the Left Bloc, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, reelection candidate supported by PSD and CDS-PP, Tiago Mayan, with support from the Liberal Initiative, André Ventura, Chega , former member of the PS and leader of the RIR, Vitorino Silva, also known as Tino de Rans, João Ferreira, supported by the PCP and the PEV, and Ana Gomes, a socialist militant with the support of the PAN and Livre.
