# 1991 Portuguese presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 13 January 1991.
The re-election of the hugely popular Mário Soares was never in doubt, specially after the then-ruling PSD, led by Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva announced its support. Therefore, the election held on 13 January 1991 was a landslide, and no second round was needed.
As the election of a left-wing candidate was assured, other left-wing parties, the Portuguese Communist Party and the People's Democratic Union, presented their own candidates. The communists presented Carlos Carvalhas, who had been Assistant General Secretary of the Party a year before (Álvaro Cunhal was the secretary-general). Carvalhas would later be elected secretary-general, in 1992.
On the right, as the Social Democratic Party supported Soares, the Democratic and Social Centre presented the only right-wing candidate, Basílio Horta.
Mário Soares achieved the majority of the votes in every district of the country, and 295 of the then 305 municipalities. His score was the biggest ever in a presidential election in Portugal.

## Electoral system

Any Portuguese citizen over 35 years old has the opportunity to run for president. In order to do so it is necessary to gather between 7,500 and 15,000 signatures and submit them to the Portuguese Constitutional Court.
According to the Portuguese Constitution, to be elected, a candidate needs a majority of votes. If no candidate gets this majority there will take place a second round between the two most voted candidates.

## Candidates
### Official candidates

* Mário Soares, Incumbent President since 1986 and eligible for a second term, supported by the Socialist Party, and tacitly by the Social Democratic Party;
* Basílio Horta, Minister in previous governments, supported by the Democratic and Social Centre;
* Carlos Carvalhas, supported by the Portuguese Communist Party and Ecologist Party "The Greens";
* Carlos Manuel Marques, supported by the People's Democratic Union;

### Decided not to run

* Francisco Lucas Pires, Former leader of the Democratic and Social Centre (1983-1986);

## Campaign period
### Party slogans

| Candidate | Original slogan | English translation |
| Mário Soares | « Soares é fixe » | "Soares is cool" |
| Basílio Horta | « Um Homem às direitas » | "An upright man" |
| Carlos Carvalhas | « Portugal pode ser melhor » | "Portugal can be better" |
| Carlos Manuel Marques | « A coragem de ser solidário » | "The courage to be supportive" |

### Candidates' debates

1991 Portuguese presidential election 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 |
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | Soares | Horta | Carvalhas | Marques | Refs |
| 21 Nov 1990 | RTP1 | Vicente Jorge Silva Maria Elisa Domingues | P | A | P | P | |
| 4 Dec 1990 | RTP1 | - | N | N | P | P | |
| 6 Dec 1990 | RTP1 | Mário Crespo | P | P | N | N | |
| 11 Dec 1990 | RTP1 | - | P | N | P | N | |
| 13 Dec 1990 | RTP1 | - | N | P | N | P | |
| 19 Dec 1990 | RTP1 | - | P | N | N | P | |
| 20 Dec 1990 | RTP1 | - | N | P | P | N | |
| 21 Dec 1990 | RTP2 | Joaquim Furtado | P | P | P | P | |

## Opinion polls

Exit poll
| Polling firm | Date released | Sample size | | | | | Lead |
| Polling firm | Date released | Sample size | Soares PS | Horta CDS | Carvalhas PCP | Marques UDP | Lead |
| Election results | 13 Jan 1991 | — | 70.4 | 14.2 | 12.9 | 2.6 | 56.2 |
| Euroexpansão/RTP | 13 Jan 1991 | — | 69.5–73.4 | 14.1–17.2 | 9.3–12.6 | 1.6–2.9 | 55.8 |

## Results

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Mário Soares | Socialist Party | 3,459,521 | 70.35 |
| | Basílio Horta | Democratic and Social Centre | 696,379 | 14.16 |
| | Carlos Carvalhas | Portuguese Communist Party–The Greens | 635,373 | 12.92 |
| | Carlos Manuel Marques [pt] | Popular Democratic Union | 126,581 | 2.57 |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,917,854 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 4,917,854 | 96.45 |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 68,037 | 1.33 |
| Blank votes | Blank votes | Blank votes | 112,877 | 2.21 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,098,768 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 8,202,212 | 62.16 |
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições |||||

### Results by district

| District | District | Soares | Soares | Horta | Horta | Carvalhas | Carvalhas | Marques | Marques | Turnout |
| District | District | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Turnout |
| | Aveiro | 250,336 | 77.27% | 49,675 | 15.33% | 17,894 | 5.52% | 6,065 | 1.87% | 64.36% |
| | Azores | 75,530 | 80.66% | 12,192 | 13.02% | 3,652 | 3.49% | 6,685 | 6.39% | 51.79% |
| | Beja | 48,694 | 54.06% | 5,293 | 5.88% | 33,796 | 37.52% | 2,294 | 2.55% | 60.34% |
| | Braga | 287,287 | 77.49% | 50,991 | 13.75% | 26,230 | 7.08% | 6,210 | 1.68% | 66.41% |
| | Bragança | 51,571 | 67.48% | 19,373 | 25.35% | 3,869 | 5.06% | 1,615 | 2.11% | 53.18% |
| | Castelo Branco | 82,470 | 71.63% | 18,627 | 16.18% | 10,593 | 9.20% | 3,443 | 2.99% | 60.29% |
| | Coimbra | 166,041 | 76.86% | 26,416 | 12.23% | 19,084 | 8.83% | 4,498 | 2.08% | 61.08% |
| | Évora | 50,805 | 53.99% | 7,710 | 8.19% | 33,313 | 35.40% | 2,281 | 2.42% | 64.94% |
| | Faro | 123,550 | 72.40% | 21,332 | 12.50% | 20,481 | 12.00% | 5,280 | 3.09% | 60.92% |
| | Guarda | 69,632 | 71.33% | 19,874 | 20.36% | 5,815 | 5.96% | 2,293 | 2.35% | 58.23% |
| | Leiria | 150,993 | 72.41% | 38,014 | 18.23% | 14,969 | 7.18% | 4,535 | 2.17% | 60.93% |
| | Lisbon | 675,760 | 64.89% | 156,424 | 15.02% | 177,275 | 17.02% | 31,860 | 3.06% | 61.73% |
| | Madeira | 70,632 | 67.22% | 23,981 | 22.91% | 3,652 | 3.49% | 6,685 | 6.39% | 57.98% |
| | Portalegre | 48,170 | 64.25% | 7,693 | 10.26% | 17,271 | 23.03% | 1,844 | 2.46% | 66.26% |
| | Porto | 627,195 | 76.50% | 101,665 | 12.40% | 75,517 | 9.21% | 15,536 | 1.89% | 65.39% |
| | Santarém | 161,301 | 68.96% | 30,938 | 13.23% | 34,996 | 14.96% | 6,662 | 2.85% | 63.33% |
| | Setúbal | 198,977 | 55.83% | 29,955 | 8.40% | 113,232 | 31.77% | 14,248 | 4.00% | 62.93% |
| | Viana do Castelo | 92,312 | 75.26% | 18,397 | 15.00% | 9,263 | 7.55% | 2,693 | 2.20% | 59.35% |
| | Vila Real | 84,358 | 75.05% | 20,139 | 17.92% | 5,738 | 5.10% | 2,174 | 1.93% | 54.63% |
| | Viseu | 145,010 | 75.41% | 33,945 | 17.65% | 9,869 | 5.13% | 3,480 | 1.81% | 57.96% |
| Source: SGMAI Presidential Election Results |||||||||||

### Maps

* Strongest candidate by electoral district.
* Strongest candidate by municipality.