Portuguese presidential election, 1986

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Portugal

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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 Democratic Renewal Party, 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

Portuguese Presidential Election, 1986 - First Round (January 26)
Candidate Supporting Parties Vote Percent
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
CDS, PSD
2,629,597 45.8%
Mário Soares
PS
1,443,683 25.1%
Francisco Salgado Zenha
PRD, PCP
1,185,867 20.6%
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
Independent
418,961 7.3%
Ângelo Veloso
PCP (left the race and supported Salgado Zenha)
-- --
Invalid Ballots 46,334 0.8%
Blank Ballots 18,292 0.3%
Total: 5,742,151 -
  • Registered Voters: 7,617,257
  • Turnout: 75.38%

[edit] Second round

Portuguese Presidential Election, 1986 - Second Round (February 16)
Candidate Supporting Parties Vote Percent
Mário Soares
PS (all other Left-wing parties and excluded candidates expressed their support)
3,010,756 50.7%
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
CDS, PSD
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

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