Portuguese local election, 1985

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Portugal

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The Portuguese local election of 1985 took place on December 15. This was the fourth local election in Portugal since the democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power.

The election consisted of three separate elections in the 305 Portuguese municipalities that existed at the time, the election for the Municipal Chambers, whose winner is elected mayor, another election for the Municipal Assembly and a last one for the lower-level Parish Assembly, whose winner is elected parish president, this last was held separately in the more than 4,000 parishes around the country. This election was the first to grant a 4-years term, instead of the former 3 years. The number of members of the Municipal Assemblies and Parish Assemblies was greatly reduced in comparison with the former election.

For the first time, the Social Democratic Party achieved the majority of the voting by itself, since the coalition with the Democratic and Social Center, the Democratic Alliance, that achieved good results in 1979 and 1982 had been disbanded. Despite finishing second and losing almost 4% of the voting, the Socialist Party lost only 4 of the former 83 mayors plus the presidency achieved in coalition with the Leftwing Union for the Socialist Democracy.

The Democratic and Social Center, this time participating alone in every election, after the end of the Democratic Alliance, continued its electoral decline, gathering only 10% of the voting. Despite keeping the same number of mayors achieved in 1982, in the municipalities where it ran alone, 27, the party lost 49 presidencies achieved in coalition with the Social Democrats.

The Portuguese Communist Party and the Portuguese Democratic Movement, united in the United People Alliance, lost 1% of the voting in comparison with the election of 1982 and lost 8 mayors, gathering only 47 presidencies. However, despite losing only 1% of the voting in the elections to Municipal Assemblies, the coalition lost almost 700 assembly members, decreasing its representation to 1062 members due to the overall reduction of mandates.

The newly founded Democratic Renovator Party, achieved almost 5% of the voting and the presidency of 3 municipalities. In the elections to Municipal Assemblies it gathered almost 6% of the voting and 270 Assembly members, being the great surprise of the election.

The main political forces involved in the election were:


Contents

[edit] National summary of votes and seats

[edit] Municipal Chambers

The first and the second most voted parties in each district
The first and the second most voted parties in each district
Portuguese local election, 1985 (December 15) - Municipal Chambers
Party Votes % Candidacies Councillors Mayors
PSD
1,649,338
34.0%
822
149
PS
1,330,029
27.4%
571
61
APU
942,147
19.8%
305
47
CDS
471,591
10.2%
224
27
PRD
230,125
04.8%
51
3
UDP
28,701
00.6%
3
0
PPM
23,897
00.5%
3
0
PCTP/MRPP
11,275
00.2%
0
0
PDC
7,863
00.2%
2
0
POUS
2,311
00.1%
0
0
Blank Ballots
76,593
01.5%
-
-
-
Invalid Ballots
78,693
01.5%
-
-
-
Total
4,852,563
-
-
1,981
305
  • Registered Voters: 7,593,968
  • Turnout: 63.90%

[edit] Municipal Assemblies

The first and the second most voted parties in each district
The first and the second most voted parties in each district
Portuguese local election, 1985 (December 15) - Municipal Assemblies
Party Votes % Candidacies Mandates
PSD
1,438,521
29.6%
2,540
PS
1,170,482
24.1%
1,817
APU
968,090
20.0%
1,062
CDS
782,021
16.1%
1,018
PRD
260,908
05.4%
270
UDP
33,447
00.7%
14
PPM
15,927
00.3%
7
PCTP/MRPP
6,494
00.1%
0
PDC
4,026
00.1%
2
LST
784
00.0%
0
POUS
250
00.0%
0
Blank Ballots
94,046
01.9%
-
-
Invalid Ballots
77,561
01.6%
-
-
Total
4,852,557
-
6,730
  • Registered Voters: 7,593,968
  • Turnout: 63.90%

[edit] Parish Assemblies

The first and the second most voted parties in each district
The first and the second most voted parties in each district
Portuguese local election, 1985 (December 15) - Parish Assemblies
Party Votes % Candidacies Mandates Presidents
PSD
1,584,427
32.9%
13,118
PS
1,303,425
27.0%
9,039
APU
993,767
20.6%
3,676
CDS
507,499
10.5%
4,531
PRD
164,345
03.4%
726
Independents
67,601
01.4%
797
UDP
28,572
00.6%
26
PCTP/MRPP
4,153
00.1%
0
PPM
2,585
00.1%
24
PDC
1,021
00.0%
4
POUS
792
00.0%
0
Blank Ballots
84,797
01.8%
-
-
-
Invalid Ballots
80,766
01.7%
-
-
-
Total
4,823,750
-
-
31,941
  • Registered Voters: 7,593,968
  • Turnout: 63.52%

[edit] End notes

  • The source of the voting data is the STAPE

Further Notes:

  • APU was composed by the PCP and the MDP/CDE.
  • The number of candidacies expresses the number of municipalities or parishes in which the party or coalition presented lists.
  • The number of mandates expresses the number of municipal deputies in the Municipal Assembly election and the number of parish deputies in the Parish Assembly election.
  • The turnout varies because one may choose not to vote for all the organs.

[edit] References