# 2009 European Parliament election in Portugal

An election of the delegation from Portugal to the European Parliament was held on 7 June 2009.
The election was a huge setback for the Socialist Party (PS), which lost almost 18 percentage points. Basically all predictions that said that the PS would win comfortably the election, were wrong. As a result, the party also lost five of its twelve European Parliament members. The Social Democrats (PSD) were the big winners in these elections, surprising pundits and analysts who predicted a very complicated result for the PSD leader, Manuela Ferreira Leite. The PSD won 31.7 percent of the vote and 8 seats. It was the first victory of the PSD, in European elections, since 1989. The People's Party (CDS-PP) also had a surprising result, winning 8 percent of the vote and electing two European Parliament members. Both PSD and CDS-PP, who ran in a joint list in 2004, increased sharply their scores and together they won more than 40 percent of the vote and 10 European Parliament members.
On the left, both the Left Bloc (BE) and Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) achieved very good results with the historic fact that BE surpassed CDU in term of votes and seats for the first time, although only just. Both parties increased their scores at the expense of the Socialist Party. The Left Bloc won 10.7 percent of the vote and three European Parliament members, their best score in EU elections to date, and CDU surpassed once again the 10 percent mark winning 10.6 percent of the vote, but maintaining the two European Parliament members they got in 2004.
Turnout in the elections was quite low, as only 36.78 percent of the electorate cast a ballot, a slightly lower share than in the 2004 election. Although the number of ballots cast was higher than in 2004, the number of registered voters increased considerably in these elections, making the final turnout share lower than in 2004.

## Electoral system

The voting method used, for the election of European members of parliament, is by proportional representation using the d'Hondt method, which is known to benefit leading parties. In the 2009 European Union elections, Portugal had 22 seats to be filled. Deputies are elected in a single constituency, corresponding to the entire national territory.

## Parties and candidates

The lists were headed by
* Socialist Party (Partido Socialista, PS): Vital Moreira
* Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata, PSD): Paulo Rangel
* Democratic Unity Coalition (Coligação Democrática Unitária, CDU): Ilda Figueiredo
* CDS – People's Party (CDS – Partido Popular, CDS–PP): Nuno Melo
* Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda, BE): Miguel Portas
* Portuguese Workers' Communist Party/Reorganized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat (Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses / Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado, PCTP/MRPP): Orlando Alves
* Earth Party (Partido da Terra, MPT): Pedro Quartin Graça
* Hope for Portugal Movement (Movimento Esperança Portugal, MEP): Laurinda Alves
* People's Monarchist Party (Partido Popular Monárquico, PPM): Frederico Carvalho
* Merit and Society Movement (Movimento Mérito e Sociedade, MMS): Carlos Gomes
* National Renovator Party (Partido Nacional Renovador, PNR): Humberto Nuno de Oliveira
* Humanist Party (Partido Humanista, PH): Manuela Magno
* Workers Party of Socialist Unity (Partido Operário de Unidade Socialista, POUS): Carmelinda Pereira

## Campaign period
### Party slogans

| Party or alliance | Original slogan | English translation |
| PS | « Nós, Europeus » | "We, Europeans" |
| PSD | « Assina por baixo? » | "Will you sign below?" |
| CDU | « Em Portugal e na Europa » | "In Portugal and in Europe" |
| CDS–PP | « Soluções sérias para Portugal » | "Serious solutions for Portugal" |
| BE | « Estás na hora » | "It's time" |

### Candidates' debates

2004 European Parliament election in Portugal debates :
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | P Present  A Absent invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  A Absent invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  A Absent invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  A Absent invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  A Absent invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  A Absent invitee N Non-invitee |
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | PS Moreira | PSD Rangel | CDU Figueiredo | CDS–PP Melo | BE Portas | Refs |
| 17 April | RTP1 | Fátima Campos Ferreira | P | P | P | P | P | |
| 24 April | SIC Notícias | Clara de Sousa | P | P | N | N | N | |
| 14 May | TVI24 | Paulo Magalhães | P | P | P | P | P | |
| 21 May | TVI24 | Paulo Magalhães | P | P | N | N | N | |

## Opinion polling and preliminary exit polls

Exit polls from the three major television networks in Portugal, RTP1, SIC and TVI were given precisely at 20:00 pm (local time) on 7 June 2009.
| Date Released | Polling Firm | | | | | | Others | Lead |
| 7 June 2009 | Election results | 26.5 7 seats | 31.7 8 seats | 8.4 2 seats | 10.6 2 seats | 10.7 3 seats | 12.1 | 5.2 |
| 7 June 2009 | Exit Poll – RTP1 Universidade Católica | 28.0–33.0 7 / 8 | 29.0–34.0 8 / 9 | 7.0–10.0 2 | 9.0–12.0 2 / 3 | 9.0–12.0 2 | — | 1.0 |
| 7 June 2009 | Exit Poll – SIC Eurosondagem | 27.7–31.5 7 / 8 | 29.2–33.0 7 / 8 | 7.5–9.3 2 | 9.5– 11.3 2 / 3 | 11.6–13.4 3 | — | 1.5 |
| 7 June 2009 | Exit Poll – TVI INTERCAMPUS | 24.1–28.1 6 / 8 | 30.4–34.4 8 / 9 | 6.7– 9.3 1 / 2 | 9.7–12.7 2 / 3 | 9.8–12.8 2 / 3 | — | 6.3 |
| Exit polls |||||||||
| 5 June 2009 | Universidade Católica | 34.0 | 32.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| 5 June 2009 | Eurosondagem | 36.0 | 31.9 | 6.1 | 9.0 | 10.1 | 6.9 | 4.1 |
| 4 June 2009 | Aximage | 36.2 | 30.9 | 5.0 | 10.1 | 10.2 | 7.6 | 5.3 |
| 4 June 2009 | Marktest | 29.4 | 32.5 | 3.3 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 17.0 | 3.1 |
| 1 June 2009 | Marktest | 31.9 | 30.1 | 4.7 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 19.1 | 1.8 |
| 29 May 2009 | Eurosondagem | 35.5 | 32.5 | 6.5 | 9.2 | 8.8 | 7.5 | 3.0 |
| 22 May 2009 | Eurosondagem | 34.3 | 32.1 | 6.9 | 8.9 | 10.1 | 7.7 | 2.2 |
| 9 May 2009 | Marktest | 33.1 | 32.9 | 4.5 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 13.5 | 0.2 |
| 1 May 2009 | Universidade Católica | 39.0 | 36.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| 24 April 2009 | INTERCAMPUS | 34.0 | 33.5 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 18.0 | — | 0.5 |
| 13 June 2004 | Election results | 44.5 12 seats | 33.3 9 seats | 33.3 9 seats | 9.1 2 seats | 4.9 1 seats | 8.2 | 11.2 |

## Voter turnout

The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day including voters from Overseas.
| Turnout | Time | Time | Time | Time | Time | Time | Time | Time | Time |
| Turnout | 12:00 | 12:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 | 16:00 | 16:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 |
| Turnout | 2004 | 2009 | ± | 2004 | 2009 | ± | 2004 | 2009 | ± |
| Total | 14.20% | 11.86% | 2.34 pp | 27.19% | 26.82% | 0.37 pp | 38.60% | 36.78% | 1.82 pp |
| Sources ||||||||||

## Results

Summary of the results of Portugal's 7 June 2009 election to the European Parliament :
| National party | National party | European party | Main candidate | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– |
| | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | EPP | Paulo Rangel | 1,131,744 | 31.71 | | 8 | 1 |
| | Socialist Party (PS) | PES | Vital Moreira | 946,818 | 26.53 | 17.99 | 7 | 5 |
| | Left Bloc (BE) | EACL / PEL | Miguel Portas | 382,667 | 10.72 | 5.81 | 3 | 2 |
| | Democratic Unitarian Coalition (CDU) • Communist Party (PCP) • Ecologist Party (PEV) | GUE/NGL | Ilda Figueiredo | 379,787 | 10.64 | 1.55 | 2 2 0 | 0 0 |
| | People's Party (CDS–PP) | EPP | Nuno Melo | 298,423 | 8.36 | | 2 | 0 |
| | Hope for Portugal Movement (MEP) | None | Laurinda Alves | 55,072 | 1.54 | new | 0 | new |
| | Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP) | None | Orlando Alves | 42,940 | 1.20 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 |
| | Earth Party (MPT) | ALDE | Pedro Quartin Graça | 24,062 | 0.67 | 0.27 | 0 | 0 |
| | Merit and Society Movement (MMS) | None | Carlos Alberto Gomes | 21,738 | 0.61 | new | 0 | new |
| | Humanist Party (PH) | None | Manuela Magno | 17,139 | 0.48 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 |
| | People's Monarchist Party (PPM) | ECPM | Frederico Duarte Carvalho | 14,414 | 0.40 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 |
| | National Renovator Party (P.N.R.) | None | Humberto Oliveira | 13,214 | 0.37 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 |
| | Workers Party of Socialist Unity (POUS) | None | Carmelinda Pereira | 5,177 | 0.15 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 3,333,195 | 93.39 | | | |
| Blank and invalid votes | Blank and invalid votes | Blank and invalid votes | Blank and invalid votes | 235,748 | 6.61 | | | |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 3,568,943 | 100.00 | — | 22 | 2 |
| Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | 9,704,559 | 36.78 | 1.82 | | |
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições Archived 8 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine |||||||||
Vote share
PSD
31.71%
PS
26.53%
BE
10.72%
CDU
10.64%
CDS-PP
8.36%
MEP
1.54%
PCTP/MRPP
1.20%
MPT
0.67%
MMS
0.61%
Others
1.40%
Blank/Invalid
6.61% :
Seats
PSD
36.36%
PS
31.82%
BE
13.64%
CDU
9.09%
CDS-PP
9.09% :

### Distribution by European group

Summary of political group distribution in the 7th European Parliament (2009–2014) :
| Groups | Groups | Parties | Seats | Total | % |
| | European People's Party (EPP) | Social Democratic Party (PSD) People's Party (CDS–PP) | 8 2 | 10 | 45.45 |
| | Party of European Socialists (PES) | Socialist Party (PS) | 7 | 7 | 31.82 |
| | European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) | Left Bloc (BE) Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) | 3 2 | 5 | 22.73 |
| Total | Total | Total | 22 | 22 | 100.00 |

### Maps

* Most voted party by district and autonomous region.
* Strongest party by municipality.