Portuguese presidential election, 1986

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Portugal

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Portugal

The Portuguese presidential election of 1986 was held on January 26, the second round took place on February 16.

This was tighest presidential election ever held in Portugal and was won by the Socialist Mário Soares, who initially had no more than 5% at opinion polls.

In first round was easily won by Freitas do Amaral, supported by all the right-wing parties, while Soares defeated the other two left-wing candidates, the former Prime-Minister Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo - to date the only woman to be a candidate to the Portuguese presidency - and Salgado Zenha (supported by outgoing president António Ramalho Eanes, founder of the short-lived Party of Democratic Renewal, and by the Portuguese Communist Party, whose candidate, Ângelo Veloso, left the race some days before the poll). Both these candidates supported Soares in the second round.

There were also three candidates rejected by the Portuguese Constitutional Court for not complying with the legal requirements, those were:

  • Carmelinda dos Santos Pereira
  • Luís Carlos Franco
  • Álvaro Manuel Nunes

Soares did not achieved the majority of the voting in any district, as the left-wing strongholds in the South of Portugal voted for Zenha due to his support by the Communist Party.

As results for the second round were counted, the urban vote, traditionally more left-wing, overcame the early lead of Freitas do Amaral by less than 140,000 votes, and Soares became president on March 9 of 1986.

As of 2006, this was the only time a Portuguese presidential election was taken into a second round.

Contents

[edit] Results

[edit] First round

Most voted candidate per district (Azores and Madeira not shown) - 1st round
Enlarge
Most voted candidate per district (Azores and Madeira not shown) - 1st round
Portuguese Presidential Election, 1986 - First Round (January 26)
Candidate Party Vote Percent
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
CDS
2,629,597 45.8%
Mário Alberto Soares
PS
1,443,683 25.1%
Francisco Salgado Zenha
Independent
1,185,867 20.6%
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
Independent
418,961 07.3%
Ângelo Matos Veloso
PCP (left the race)
0 00.0%
Invalid Ballots 46,334 00.8%
Blank Ballots 18,292 00.3%
Total: 5,742,151 -
  • Registered Voters: 7,617,257
  • Turnout: 75.38%

[edit] Second round

Most voted candidate per district (Azores and Madeira not shown) - 2nd round
Enlarge
Most voted candidate per district (Azores and Madeira not shown) - 2nd round
Portuguese Presidential Election, 1986 - Second Round (February 16)
Candidate Party Vote Percent
Mário Alberto Soares
PS
3,010,756 50.7%
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
CDS
2,872,064 48.4%
Invalid Ballots 33,844 00.6%
Blank Ballots 20,436 00.3%
Total: 5,937,100 -
  • Registered Voters: 7,612,733
  • Turnout: 77.99%

[edit] References

[edit] See also

Elections in Portugal
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