# 2021 Portuguese presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 24 January. The incumbent President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was reelected for a second term.
The elections were held during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Portugal was under a lockdown as of election day. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was reelected by a landslide, winning 60.7 percent of the votes. He won every district in the country and all 308 municipalities, a result which happened for the first time ever in Portuguese democracy; he won 3,083 parishes out of 3,092. The election also marked the rise of right-wing candidate André Ventura, leader of CHEGA, who polled 3rd with almost 12 percent of the votes. In second place, former MEP and Ambassador Ana Gomes was able to win 13 percent of the votes, the best result ever for a female candidate in a presidential election. As in the 2016 elections, the Socialist Party (PS) did not officially endorse any candidate, despite Ana Gomes being a PS member. The rest of candidates did not receive above 5 percent each.
Voter turnout fell to 39 percent, a drop of nine percentage points, mainly due to the automatic registration of overseas voters; this practice increased the number of registered voters to almost 11 million. In Portugal alone, turnout stood at 45.45 percent, a decrease of 4.6 percentage points compared to 2016. This was the lowest drop in turnout in an election with an incumbent running since 1980.

## Background

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was elected in 2016 with 52.00% of the votes on the first round. He took the oath of office on 9 March 2016 and has been in cohabitation with Socialist Prime Minister António Costa since then.
In Portugal, the president is the head of state and has mostly ceremonial powers. However, the president does have some political influence, and can dissolve the Parliament of Portugal if a crisis occurs. The president's official residence is the Belém Palace in Lisbon.

## Electoral system

Under Portuguese law, a candidate must receive a majority of votes (50% plus one vote) to be elected. If no candidate achieved a majority in the first round, a runoff election (i.e., second round, held between the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round) should be held.
In order to stand for election, candidates must be of Portuguese origin and over 35 years old, gather 7,500 signatures of support one month before the election and submit them to the Constitutional Court of Portugal. The Constitutional Court then certifies the candidacies which meet the requirements to appear on the ballot. The highest number of candidacies ever accepted was ten in 2016.

### Early voting

Voters were also able to vote early, which would happen one week before election day on 17 January 2021. Voters had to register between 10 and 14 January in order to be eligible to cast an early ballot; a total of 246,880 voters requested to vote early in 2021. On 17 January, 197,903 voters (80.16 percent of voters that registered) cast an early ballot.

## Candidates

There were seven candidates certified to run in this election. In addition, the Constitutional Court rejected Eduardo Baptista's nomination due to insufficient signatures, although his name still appeared on the ballot. Six more individuals had announced their intention to run for President, but did not present any application to the Court, two of whom publicly stated that they would withdraw, which includes Democratic Republican Party (PDR) leader Bruno Fialho who, despite saying he had enough signatures, decided to drop out in order to "not to spend thousands of euros on the country". Finally, three more individuals were, for a while, thought of as potential or speculative candidates, but later ruled out any type of candidacy.

### Formalized candidacy

| Candidate | Supported by | Political office(s) | Details | Announcement date |
| André Ventura (38) | CHEGA | President of CHEGA (since 2019) Member of Parliament for Lisbon (since 2019) | Founder of CHEGA and sole MP from the party. | 29 February 2020 |
| Tiago Mayan Gonçalves (43) | Liberal Initiative | None | Founding member of the Liberal Initiative (IL). | 25 July 2020 |
| Vitorino Silva (49) | React, Include, Recycle | President of React, Include, Recycle (2019–2022) President of the Parish Council of Rans (1994–2002) | Candidate in the 2016 presidential election, finishing sixth with 3.3% of the votes. | 8 September 2020 |
| Marisa Matias (44) | Left Bloc  Socialist Alternative Movement | Member of the European Parliament (2009–2024) | Candidate in the 2016 presidential election, finishing third with 10.1% of the votes. | 9 September 2020 |
| Ana Gomes (66) | People Animals Nature  LIVRE | Member of the European Parliament (2004–2019) Ambassador to Indonesia (2000–2003) | Member of the Socialist Party (PS); failed to gain the support of the party. | 10 September 2020 |
| João Ferreira (42) | Portuguese Communist Party  Ecologist Party "The Greens" | Member of the European Parliament (2009–2021) | Supported by the Unitary Democratic Coalition. | 17 September 2020 |
| Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (72) | Social Democratic Party  CDS – People's Party | President of the Republic (since 2016) President of the Social Democratic Party (1996–1999) Minister of Parliamentary Affairs (1982–1983) Member of the Consitituent Assembly (1975–1976) | Incumbent president after winning the 2016 presidential election, with 52.0% of the votes; eligible for a second term. | 7 December 2020 |

### Rejected candidates

* Eduardo Baptista, NATO Staff Officer, Independent;

### Unsuccessful candidates

* Carla Bastos, Socialist Party member, Finances inspector;
* Orlando Cruz, former People's Party member;
* Paulo Alves, Together for the People party member, former member of the Felgueiras municipal assembly (2005-2009)
* Paulo Patinha Antão, unemployed

### Withdrew

* Bruno Fialho, Democratic Republican Party (PDR) leader;
* Gonçalo da Câmara Pereira, People's Monarchist Party (PPM) president, fado singer, actor and rural producer

### Refused

* Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, former Secretary of State for Tourism (2013–2015) and People's Party MP (2011–2013).
* António Sampaio da Nóvoa, former Rector of the University of Lisbon (2006–2013); presidential candidate in 2016, polled second place with almost 23 percent of the vote;
* Miguel Albuquerque, President of the Regional Government of Madeira since 2015; former Mayor of Funchal (1994–2013).

## Campaign
### Issues

The campaign was severely limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, with candidates being forced to reduce campaign events to a minimum due to movement limitations imposed by the Government to prevent the spread of the virus. There were mandatory curfews in several municipalities and movement between all municipalities was prohibited during the weekends.
At the beginning of the electoral campaign, the president of the French National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, confirmed that she would go to Lisbon to support André Ventura's presidential candidacy.

### Candidates' slogans

| Candidate | Original slogan | English translation |
| Marisa Matias | « Força Maior » | "Greater Force" |
| João Ferreira | « Coragem e confiança. Um horizonte de esperança » | "Courage and confidence. A horizon of hope" |
| Vitorino Silva | « O Povo a Presidente! » | "The People for President!" |
| Ana Gomes | « Cuidar de Portugal » | "Taking care of Portugal" |
| André Ventura | « Por Portugal, Pelos Portugueses! » | "For Portugal, for the Portuguese!" |
| Tiago Mayan Gonçalves | « A alternativa liberal » | "The liberal alternative" |
| Bruno Fialho | « A escolha certa » | "The right choice" |

### Candidates' debates

2021 Portuguese presidential election debates :
| Date | Time | Organisers | Moderator(s) | I Invitee  P Present  A Absent invitee | I Invitee  P Present  A Absent invitee | I Invitee  P Present  A Absent invitee | I Invitee  P Present  A Absent invitee | I Invitee  P Present  A Absent invitee | I Invitee  P Present  A Absent invitee | I Invitee  P Present  A Absent invitee | I Invitee  P Present  A Absent invitee |
| Date | Time | Organisers | Moderator(s) | Rebelo de Sousa | Gomes | Ventura | Matias | Ferreira | Mayan | Silva | Refs |
| 2 Jan 2021 | 9PM | RTP1 | Carlos Daniel | P | | | P | | | | |
| 2 Jan 2021 | 10PM | TVI24 | Carla Moita | | | P | | P | | | |
| 3 Jan 2021 | 9PM | RTP1 | Carlos Daniel | P | | | | | P | | |
| 4 Jan 2021 | 9PM | TVI | Pedro Mourinho | P | | | | P | | | |
| 4 Jan 2021 | 10PM | SIC Notícias | Clara de Sousa | | P | | P | | | | |
| 4 Jan 2021 | 10:45PM | RTP3 | Carlos Daniel | | | P | | | | P | |
| 5 Jan 2021 | 9PM | RTP1 | Carlos Daniel | | P | | | P | | | |
| 5 Jan 2021 | 10PM | SIC Notícias | Clara de Sousa | | | P | | | P | | |
| 5 Jan 2021 | 10:45PM | RTP3 | Carlos Daniel | | | | P | | | P | |
| 6 Jan 2021 | 9PM | SIC | Clara de Sousa | P | | P | | | | | |
| 6 Jan 2021 | 10PM | TVI24 | Carla Moita | | | | | P | P | | |
| 6 Jan 2021 | 10:45PM | RTP3 | Carlos Daniel | | P | | | | | P | |
| 7 Jan 2021 | 9PM | SIC | Clara de Sousa | | | P | P | | | | |
| 7 Jan 2021 | 10PM | TVI24 | Carla Moita | | P | | | | P | | |
| 7 Jan 2021 | 10:45PM | RTP3 | Carlos Daniel | P | | | | | | P | |
| 8 Jan 2021 | 9PM | TVI | Pedro Mourinho | | P | P | | | | | |
| 8 Jan 2021 | 9:30PM | RTP1 | Carlos Daniel | | | | P | P | | | |
| 8 Jan 2021 | 10:45PM | RTP3 | Carlos Daniel | | | | | | P | P | |
| 9 Jan 2021 | 9PM | RTP1 | Carlos Daniel | P | P | | | | | | |
| 9 Jan 2021 | 10PM | SIC Notícias | Clara de Sousa | | | | P | | P | | |
| 9 Jan 2021 | 10:45PM | RTP3 | Carlos Daniel | | | | | P | | P | |
| 12 Jan 2021 | 9PM | RTP1 | Carlos Daniel | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | |
| 18 Jan 2021 | 9AM | Antena 1, RR, TSF | Natália Carvalho Eunice Lourenço Judith Menezes e Sousa | P | P | A | P | P | P | P | |

## 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 | 2016 | 2021 | ± | 2016 | 2021 | ± | 2016 | 2021 | ± |
| Total | 15.82% | 17.07% | 1.25 pp | 37.69% | 35.44% | 2.25 pp | 48.66% | 39.26% | 9.40 pp |
| Sources ||||||||||

## Results

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa | Social Democratic Party–People's Party | 2,531,692 | 60.67 |
| | Ana Gomes | Independent supported by People Animals Nature–LIVRE | 540,823 | 12.96 |
| | André Ventura | Chega | 497,746 | 11.93 |
| | João Ferreira | Portuguese Communist Party–The Greens | 179,764 | 4.31 |
| | Marisa Matias | Left Bloc–Socialist Alternative Movement | 165,127 | 3.96 |
| | Tiago Mayan Gonçalves | Liberal Initiative | 134,991 | 3.23 |
| | Vitorino Silva | React, Include, Recycle | 123,031 | 2.95 |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,173,174 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 4,173,174 | 98.00 |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 38,018 | 0.89 |
| Blank votes | Blank votes | Blank votes | 47,164 | 1.11 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,258,356 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 10,847,434 | 39.26 |
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições |||||

### Results by district

| 0000District0000 | 0000District0000 | Marcelo | Marcelo | Gomes | Gomes | Ventura | Ventura | Ferreira | Ferreira | Matias | Matias | Mayan | Mayan | Vitorino Silva | Vitorino Silva | Turnout |
| 0000District0000 | 0000District0000 | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Turnout |
| | Aveiro | 176,763 | 65.66% | 31,812 | 11.82% | 25,894 | 9.62% | 6,309 | 2.34% | 10,421 | 3.87% | 8,338 | 3.10% | 9,670 | 3.59% | 42.78% |
| | Azores | 56,178 | 69.67% | 8,940 | 11.09% | 7,560 | 9.38% | 1,536 | 1.90% | 3,176 | 3.94% | 1,666 | 2.07% | 1,575 | 1.95% | 36.07% |
| | Beja | 26,910 | 51.30% | 5,613 | 10.70% | 8,490 | 16.19% | 7,877 | 15.02% | 1,895 | 3.61% | 708 | 1.35% | 962 | 1.83% | 43.94% |
| | Braga | 234,617 | 63.93% | 44,780 | 12.20% | 39,281 | 10.70% | 10,192 | 2.78% | 12,572 | 3.43% | 11,932 | 3.25% | 13,622 | 3.71% | 48.52% |
| | Bragança | 27,258 | 60.47% | 4,851 | 10.76% | 7,939 | 17.61% | 1,019 | 2.26% | 1,511 | 3.35% | 842 | 1.87% | 1,656 | 3.67% | 33.28% |
| | Castelo Branco | 44,170 | 62.13% | 8,212 | 11.55% | 9,920 | 13.95% | 2,499 | 3.52% | 2,946 | 4.14% | 1,477 | 2.08% | 1,869 | 2.63% | 43.33% |
| | Coimbra | 97,778 | 62.44% | 20,938 | 13.02% | 15,682 | 10.01% | 6,022 | 3.85% | 8,588 | 5.48% | 3,968 | 2.53% | 4,171 | 2.66% | 42.37% |
| | Évora | 31,712 | 54.70% | 5,974 | 10.30% | 9,720 | 16.76% | 6,262 | 10.80% | 2,079 | 3.59% | 1,176 | 2.03% | 1,055 | 1.82% | 43.60% |
| | Faro | 89,393 | 57.33% | 18,312 | 11.74% | 26,023 | 16.69% | 6,607 | 4.24% | 7,612 | 4.88% | 4,038 | 2.59% | 3,943 | 2.53% | 42.11% |
| | Guarda | 34,582 | 64.04% | 5,637 | 10.44% | 7,737 | 14.33% | 1,328 | 2.46% | 1,874 | 3.47% | 1,030 | 1.91% | 1,810 | 3.35% | 37.41% |
| | Leiria | 115,484 | 63.94% | 18,871 | 10.45% | 22,576 | 12.50% | 5,761 | 3.19% | 7,222 | 4.00% | 5,185 | 2.87% | 5,526 | 3.06% | 44.70% |
| | Lisbon | 556,028 | 57.80% | 136,608 | 14.51% | 123,644 | 12.85% | 48,721 | 5.06% | 36,618 | 3.81% | 39,190 | 4.07% | 18,173 | 1.89% | 50.97% |
| | Madeira | 77,945 | 72.16% | 8,510 | 7.88% | 10,642 | 9.85% | 1,855 | 1.72% | 4,601 | 4.26% | 2,484 | 2.30% | 1,986 | 1.84% | 42.71% |
| | Portalegre | 21,984 | 55.71% | 4,034 | 10.22% | 7,908 | 20.04% | 2,868 | 7.27% | 1,234 | 3.13% | 703 | 1.78% | 731 | 1.85% | 42.23% |
| | Porto | 450,175 | 60.01% | 116,906 | 15.58% | 63,194 | 8.42% | 24,456 | 3.26% | 29,867 | 3.98% | 32,194 | 4.29% | 33,427 | 4.46% | 48.10% |
| | Santarém | 101,233 | 60.74% | 16,359 | 9.81% | 26,260 | 15.76% | 8,274 | 4.96% | 6,229 | 3.74% | 3,759 | 2.26% | 4,563 | 2.74% | 44.90% |
| | Setúbal | 190,912 | 56.17% | 45,442 | 13.37% | 43,720 | 12.86% | 30,397 | 8.94% | 14,792 | 4.35% | 7,838 | 2.31% | 6,771 | 1.99% | 46.54% |
| | Viana do Castelo | 56,937 | 63.66% | 10,348 | 11.57% | 10,177 | 11.38% | 2,851 | 3.19% | 3,296 | 3.69% | 2,244 | 2.51% | 3,583 | 4.01% | 38.49% |
| | Vila Real | 47,960 | 63.50% | 8,629 | 11.42% | 10,347 | 13.70% | 1,912 | 2.53% | 2,461 | 3.26% | 1,572 | 2.08% | 2,650 | 3.51% | 35.81% |
| | Viseu | 81,568 | 65.25% | 12,992 | 10.39% | 16,446 | 13.16% | 2,750 | 2.20% | 4,174 | 3.34% | 2,524 | 2.02% | 4,553 | 3.64% | 37.26% |
| | Overseas | 15,158 | 52.65% | 5,328 | 18.51% | 3,613 | 12.55% | 1,022 | 3.55% | 1,573 | 5.46% | 1,616 | 5.61% | 478 | 1.66% | 1.88% |
| Source: 2021 Presidential election results |||||||||||||||||

### Maps

* Strongest candidate by municipality: Marcelo - orange.
* First, second and third most voted candidates by district: Marcelo - orange; Gomes - pink; Ventura - dark blue; Ferreira - red.
* First, second and third most voted candidates by municipality: Marcelo - orange; Gomes - pink; Ventura - dark blue; Ferreira - red; Vitorino Silva - Light Sea Green.

### Accomplishments

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa won the third highest vote margin ever in presidential elections in Portugal since democracy was restored, only behind Mário Soares' 70.35 percent in 1991 and António Ramalho Eanes' 61.59 percent in 1976. He was also the first candidate ever to win the vote in all municipalities, and won in 3083 out of 3092 parishes of the country.
Ana Gomes became the most voted woman ever in presidential elections in Portugal, beating Marisa Matias' previous record of 10.12 percent in 2016, and the first to get second place.