# 2001 Portuguese presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 14 January 2001.
The victory of incumbent president Jorge Sampaio was never in doubt and the turnout was therefore quite low (49.71 percent). Again, the incumbent president was re-elected, like what happened with Mário Soares and Ramalho Eanes.
As the re-election of the left-wing president was almost certain, both the Portuguese Communist Party and the Left Bloc, the latter for its first time, presented their own candidates, as their support against the right-wing candidate was not necessary. The Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers also presented its own candidate for the first time in its history, Garcia Pereira.
On the right, Ferreira do Amaral was supported by the two major parties, the Social Democratic Party and the People's Party which, again, could not achieve their old objective of electing a right-wing president for the first time since the Carnation Revolution.

## 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

* Jorge Sampaio, President since 1996 and eligible for a second term, leader of the PS between 1989 and 1992, supported by the Socialist Party;
* Joaquim Martins Ferreira do Amaral, former minister of public works of Cavaco Silva government between 1990 and 1995, supported by the Social Democratic Party and by the People's Party;
* António Abreu, alderman in Lisbon between 1997 and 2001, supported by the Portuguese Communist Party;
* Fernando Rosas, Portuguese academic and politician, supported by the Left Bloc;
* Garcia Pereira, Secretary-General of the PCTP/MRPP;

### Unsuccessful candidacies

There were also four candidates rejected by the Portuguese Constitutional Court for not complying with the legal requirement of being proposed by 7500 voters:
* Pedro Maria Braga;
* Maria Teresa Lameiro;
* Josué Rodrigues Pedro;
* Manuel João Vieira;
These four candidates were present in the draw of the ballot position, but did not appear in the final ballot.

## Campaign period
### Party slogans

| Candidate | Original slogan | English translation |
| Jorge Sampaio | « Por todos nós » | "For all of us" |
| Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral | « Juntos conseguimos » | "Together we succeed" |
| António Abreu | « Razões de esquerda para Portugal » | "Left reasons for Portugal" |
| Fernando Rosas | « Esquerda com rosto » | "Left with a face" |
| António Garcia Pereira | « Ousar sonhar, ousar lutar, ousar vencer! » | "Dare to dream, dare to fight, dare to win!" |

### Candidates' debates

2001 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 | 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 | 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 | P Present  A Absent invitee N Non-invitee |
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | Sampaio | Amaral | Abreu | Rosas | Pereira | Refs |
| 4 Jan | RTP1 | Judite de Sousa | P | P | P | P | P | |

## Opinion polls

Exit poll
| Polling firm | Date released | Sample size | | | | | | Others | Lead |
| Polling firm | Date released | Sample size | Sampaio PS | Amaral PSD | Abreu PCP, PEV | Rosas BE | Pereira PCTP/MRPP | Others | Lead |
| Election results | 14 Jan 2001 | — | 55.6 | 34.7 | 5.2 | 3.0 | 1.6 | — | 20.9 |
| UCP–CESOP/RTP | 14 Jan 2001 | — | 54–59 | 32–36 | 4–7 | 2–3.5 | 1–2.5 | — | 22.5 |
| Eurosondagem/SIC | 14 Jan 2001 | — | 55.9–58.7 | 31.1–34.9 | 4.2–6.4 | 1.7–3.3 | 1.1–2.3 | — | 24.4 |
| Intercampus/TVI | 14 Jan 2001 | — | 54.8–59.2 | 30.9–35.1 | 4.5–6.5 | 1.9–3.3 | 1.3–2.5 | — | 24.0 |
| UCP–CESOP/RTP | 12 Jan 2001 | — | 63.5 | 29.1 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 2.2 | — | 34.4 |
| Euroexpansão/Expresso | 12 Jan 2001 | — | 64.8 | 31.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.4 | — | 32.9 |
| Eurosondagem/SIC | 12 Jan 2001 | — | 67.6 | 27.6 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.9 | — | 40.0 |
| UCP–CESOP/RTP | 7 Jan 2001 | — | 67.9 | 27.2 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 0.8 | — | 40.7 |
| Euroexpansão/Expresso | 30 Dec 2000 | — | 60.1 | 29.6 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 7.2 | 30.5 |
| UCP–CESOP/RTP | 18 Dec 2001 | — | 62.0 | 31.6 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 30.4 |
| Euroexpansão/Expresso | Nov 2000 | — | 61.9 | 26.4 | 1.3 | 1.4 | — | 9.0 | 35.5 |
| Euroexpansão/Expresso | 1 Apr 2000 | — | 67 | 17 | — | — | — | 5 | 50 |

## Results

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Jorge Sampaio | Socialist Party | 2,401,015 | 55.55 |
| | Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral | Social Democratic Party–People's Party | 1,498,948 | 34.68 |
| | António Abreu | Portuguese Communist Party–The Greens | 223,196 | 5.16 |
| | Fernando Rosas | Left Bloc | 129,840 | 3.00 |
| | António Garcia Pereira | Portuguese Workers' Communist Party | 68,900 | 1.59 |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,321,899 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 4,321,899 | 97.13 |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 45,510 | 1.02 |
| Blank votes | Blank votes | Blank votes | 82,391 | 1.85 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,449,800 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 8,950,905 | 49.71 |
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições |||||

### Results by district

| District | District | Sampaio | Sampaio | Amaral | Amaral | Abreu | Abreu | Rosas | Rosas | Garcia Pereira | Garcia Pereira | Turnout |
| District | District | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Turnout |
| | Aveiro | 149,301 | 51.16% | 125,306 | 42.93% | 6,240 | 2.14% | 6,942 | 2.38% | 4,068 | 1.39% | 51.96% |
| | Azores | 43,848 | 63.81% | 21,378 | 31.11% | 841 | 1.22% | 1,558 | 2.27% | 1,092 | 1.59% | 37.18% |
| | Beja | 41,180 | 62.16% | 9,988 | 15.08% | 11,979 | 18.08% | 2,287 | 3.45% | 814 | 1.23% | 47.12% |
| | Braga | 196,641 | 54.79% | 137,989 | 38.45% | 8,922 | 2.49% | 10,362 | 2.89% | 4,998 | 1.39% | 55.24% |
| | Bragança | 29,514 | 46.33% | 30,612 | 48.06% | 1,247 | 1.96% | 1,433 | 2.25% | 893 | 1.40% | 43.45% |
| | Castelo Branco | 57,888 | 58.89% | 33,353 | 33.93% | 3,069 | 3.12% | 2,698 | 2.74% | 1,296 | 1.32% | 52.45% |
| | Coimbra | 107,310 | 58.20% | 62,441 | 33.86% | 6,517 | 3.53% | 5,410 | 2.93% | 2,714 | 1.47% | 50.13% |
| | Évora | 45,182 | 62.00% | 14,914 | 20.47% | 9,970 | 13.68% | 2,080 | 2.85% | 724 | 0.99% | 50.28% |
| | Faro | 86,483 | 59.40% | 44,471 | 30.54% | 6,415 | 4.41% | 5,394 | 3.70% | 2,834 | 1.95% | 47.48% |
| | Guarda | 40,597 | 51.31% | 33,617 | 42.49% | 1,917 | 2.42% | 1,917 | 2.42% | 1,067 | 1.35% | 47.68% |
| | Leiria | 90,854 | 47.51% | 86,805 | 45.50% | 5,860 | 3.06% | 5,017 | 2.62% | 2,679 | 1.40% | 51.97% |
| | Lisbon | 517,692 | 56.49% | 285,472 | 31.15% | 61,338 | 6.69% | 32,831 | 3.58% | 19,077 | 2.08% | 51.69% |
| | Madeira | 51,837 | 51.01% | 43,092 | 42.41% | 1,477 | 1.45% | 3,237 | 3.19% | 1,970 | 1.94% | 49.26% |
| | Portalegre | 34,956 | 62.79% | 13,311 | 23.91% | 5,271 | 9.47% | 1,453 | 2.61% | 679 | 1.22% | 51.20% |
| | Porto | 428,798 | 57.87% | 256,975 | 34.68% | 25,433 | 3.43% | 19,648 | 2.65% | 10,072 | 1.36% | 53.13% |
| | Santarém | 113,079 | 56.84% | 65,258 | 32.80% | 11,344 | 5.70% | 6,320 | 3.18% | 2,959 | 1.49% | 52.59% |
| | Setúbal | 190,543 | 60.05% | 64,500 | 20.33% | 44,453 | 14.01% | 12,168 | 3.83% | 5,647 | 1.78% | 50.03% |
| | Viana do Castelo | 58,235 | 52.63% | 44,441 | 40.16% | 3,291 | 2.97% | 3,172 | 2.87% | 1,521 | 1.37% | 49.88% |
| | Vila Real | 48,037 | 48.44% | 45,519 | 45.90% | 1,955 | 1.97% | 2,343 | 2.36% | 1,312 | 1.32% | 46.24% |
| | Viseu | 79,478 | 48.72% | 74,416 | 45.61% | 2,992 | 1.83% | 4,097 | 2.51% | 2,161 | 1.32% | 48.03% |
| Source: 2001 Presidential election results |||||||||||||

### Maps

* Strongest candidate by electoral district. (Azores and Madeira not shown)
* Strongest candidate by municipality.