Portuguese presidential election, 2011

The 2011 Portuguese presidential election was held on January 23, 2011. This election resulted in the re-election of Aníbal Cavaco Silva

Aníbal Cavaco Silva

Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, GCC , is the President of Portugal. He won the Portuguese presidential election on 22 January 2006 and was re-elected on 23 January 2011, for a second five-year term. Cavaco Silva was sworn in on 9 March 2006....

to a second term as President of Portugal. Turnout in this election was very low, where only 46.52% of the electorate cast their ballots. Cavaco Silva won by a landslide winning all 18 districts, both Autonomous regions of Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

and Madeira

Madeira

Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...

and 292 municipalities

Municipalities of Portugal

In Portugal, municipality or concelho is the most stable subdivision of Portugal since the foundation of the country.Portugal has an entirely separate system of cities and towns. Cities and towns are located in municipalities, but often do not have the same boundaries, even if built-up is continuous...

of a total of 308.

Procedure

Any Portuguese citizen

Portuguese nationality law

Portuguese nationality law is the legal set of rules that regulate access to Portuguese citizenship, which is acquired mainly through descent from a Portuguese parent, naturalisation in Portugal or marriage to a Portuguese citizen....

over 35 years old has the opportunity to run for president. In order to do so it is necessary to gather between 7500 and 15000 signatures and submit them to the Portuguese Constitutional Court

Portuguese Constitutional Court

The Portuguese Constitutional Court is a special court, defined by the Portuguese Constitution as part of the judicial branch of the Portuguese political organization. Unlike the rest of the country's courts, the Constitutional Court has important characteristics, such as a special composition,...

.

According to the Portuguese Constitution

Constitution of Portugal

The first Portuguese Constitution was drafted in 1822. Several revolutions led to the constitutions of 1826 , 1838 , 1911 , 1933 , and 1976 ....

, to be elected, a candidate needs a majority (50% + 1). If no candidate gets this majority there will take place a second round between the two most voted candidates.

Poltical context

During the 2006 presidential elections

Portuguese presidential election, 2006

The Portuguese presidential election were held on 22 January 2006 to elect a successor to the incumbent President Jorge Sampaio, who was term-limited from running for a third consecutive term by the Constitution of Portugal...

, former Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva, the only candidate of the center-right had won the ballot in the first round with 50.5% of the votes cast. He had faced two particular candidates from the ruling Socialist Party

Socialist Party (Portugal)

The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....

, the official candidate Mário Soares

Mário Soares

Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares, GColTE, GCC, GColL, KE , Portuguese politician, served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the 17th President of Portugal from 1986 to 1996.-Family:...

, former President of the Republic came in third with 14.3%, Manuel Alegre, a dissident, ranked second with 20.7% of votes . This historic victory of a conservative candidate, the first after the Carnation Revolution, inaugurated a period of "political cohabitation" with Socialist Prime Minister José Sócrates

José Sócrates

José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH , commonly known by José Sócrates , is a Portuguese politician who was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011....

.

The general elections

Portuguese legislative election, 2009

Legislative elections in Portugal were held on 27 September 2009 to renew all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic. The Socialist Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister José Sócrates, won the largest number of seats, but didn't repeat the overall majority they gained in 2005.The Socialist...

of September 2009 confirmed this situation, and brought the PS once again to power, however depriving him of his absolute majority. The situation of economic and financial crisis that the country lives led to the adoption of an austerity plan and budget for more frequent intervention of the Head of State in politics to promote agreement among political parties in the country.

Official candidates

Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, GCC , is the President of Portugal. He won the Portuguese presidential election on 22 January 2006 and was re-elected on 23 January 2011, for a second five-year term. Cavaco Silva was sworn in on 9 March 2006....

: President since 2006 and eligible for a second term. Supported by:
Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party...

,
People's Party,
Hope for Portugal Movement
Hope for Portugal Movement
Hope for Portugal Movement is a minor centre political party in Portugal. It has no representatives in the Assembly of the Republic, the Portuguese legislature...
Manuel Alegre
Manuel Alegre
Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte, GCL , is a Portuguese poet and politician, member of the Socialist Party, and a candidate to the Portuguese presidential election, 2006...

: Former member of the Assembly of the Republic
Assembly of the Republic
The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...

. Supported by:
Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....

,
Left Bloc,
Portuguese Workers' Communist Party,
Fernando Nobre
Fernando Nobre
Fernando José de La Vieter Ribeiro Nobre is a Portuguese doctor who is the founder and president of the Portuguese NGO AMI . In 2007 he was voted as the 25th greatest Portuguese ever in the contest Os Grandes Portugueses, being the 5th most voted among Portuguese living people at that date...

: Independent.
Defensor de Moura: Member of the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....

, running as an independent.
Francisco Lopes
Francisco Lopes
Francisco José de Almeida Lopes is a Portuguese politician who, supported by the Communist Party, ran for president in the Portuguese presidential election of 2011....

: Supported by the Communist Party
Portuguese Communist Party
The Portuguese Communist Party is a major left-wing political party in Portugal. It is a Marxist-Leninist party, and its organization is based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself to be patriotic and internationalist....

,
Ecologist Party "The Greens"
José Manuel Coelho
José Manuel Coelho
Jose Manuel Vieira Coelho da Mata is a Portuguese politician. He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party until 1999, and still calls himself a communist "who evolved". He was substitute deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira for the New Democracy Party, taking office in 2008...

: Independent, supported by the New Democracy Party.

Unsuccessful candidacies

Luís Botelho Ribeiro: Leader of the Pro-life Party. His application was formalised on Monday, 20 December, with over 8,000 signatures. His candidacy was analysed by the Constitutional Court. On 29 December, the court concluded that his candidady did not meet the requirements provided by law.
José Ribeiro e Castro
José Ribeiro e Castro
José Duarte de Almeida Ribeiro e Castro is a Portuguese lawyer and politician. He was the leader of the People's Party since 24 April 2005 to 2007 , wen he was replaced again by Paulo Portas....

: Member of the Democratic and Social Centre – People´s Party, especulated to run as an alternative right-wing candidate, because of Cavaco's decision to approve same-sex marriage. However, he did not go forward with his candidacy.
José Pinto Coelho
José Pinto Coelho
José de Almeida e Vasconcelos Pinto Coelho commonly known just by José Pinto-Coelho, is a Portuguese far-right and nationalist politician, president of the National Renovator Party since 2005.The second son of José Gabriel Braamcamp Freire Pinto Coelho and...

: Leader of the far-right National Renovator Party
National Renovator Party
The National Renovator Party , or PNR, is a Portuguese nationalist political party. Its motto is Nation and Labor and one of its objectives is the promotion of a Portuguese nationalist spirit. It believes that nationalism is putting the interests of the nation above sectarian interests...

. He declared that his candidacy for the presidency "was been cut short" by failing to gather the 7,500 signatures required. He claimed to have gathered 5,878 signatures.

Opinion polling

Date released	Institute	Cavaco Silva	Manuel Alegre Manuel Alegre Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte, GCL , is a Portuguese poet and politician, member of the Socialist Party, and a candidate to the Portuguese presidential election, 2006...	Fernando Nobre Fernando Nobre Fernando José de La Vieter Ribeiro Nobre is a Portuguese doctor who is the founder and president of the Portuguese NGO AMI . In 2007 he was voted as the 25th greatest Portuguese ever in the contest Os Grandes Portugueses, being the 5th most voted among Portuguese living people at that date...	Defensor Moura	Francisco Lopes Francisco Lopes Francisco José de Almeida Lopes is a Portuguese politician who, supported by the Communist Party, ran for president in the Portuguese presidential election of 2011....	José Manuel Coelho José Manuel Coelho Jose Manuel Vieira Coelho da Mata is a Portuguese politician. He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party until 1999, and still calls himself a communist "who evolved". He was substitute deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira for the New Democracy Party, taking office in 2008...	Others / None / Undecided	Lead
January 23, 2011	Election Results	53.0%	19.7%	14.1%	1.6%	7.1%	4.5%	—	33.3% over Alegre
January 23, 2011 - 20:00h	Exit Poll - RTP1 Universidade Católica	52.0% 58.0%	18.0% 21.0%	13.5% 16.5%	1.0% 2.0%	5.0% 8.0%	2.0% 4.0%	—	34.0% 37.0% over Alegre
January 23, 2011 - 20:00h	Exit Poll - SIC Eurosondagem	51.6% 56.0%	17.1% 20.9%	13.1% 16.3%	1.1% 2.1%	6.3% 7.5%	3.3% 4.5%	—	34.5% 35.1% over Alegre
January 23, 2011 - 20:00h	Exit Poll - TVI INTERCAMPUS	51.4% 55.4%	17.2% 21.2%	12.4% 16.4%	0.7% 2.7%	5.8% 8.8%	3.1% 5.1%	—	34.2% over Alegre
January 21, 2011	Sol (average)	58.0%	22.0%	11.0%	2.0%	5.0%	2.0%	—	36.0% over Alegre
January 21, 2011	Universidade Católica	59.0%	22.0%	10.0%	1.0%	6.0%	2.0%	—	37.0% over Alegre
January 21, 2011	Eurosondagem	56.3%	25.0%	10.1%	2.0%	5.2%	1.4%	—	31.3% over Alegre
January 21, 2011	Aximage	54.7%	25.6%	10.7%	1.8%	6.3%	0.9%	—	29.1% over Alegre
January 20, 2011	INTERCAMPUS	54.6%	22.8%	9.1%	2.6%	8.2%	2.7%	—	31.8% over Alegre
January 19, 2011	Marktest	61.5%	15.0%	12.7%	1.2%	3.3%	2.1%	4.2%	46.5% over Alegre
January 8, 2011	Aximage	57.1%	20.8%	8.7%	3.1%	2.0%	0.5%	7.8%	36.3% over Alegre
January 7, 2011	INTERCAMPUS	60.1%	25.3%	4.2%	2.5%	6.3%	1.6%	—	34.8% over Alegre
December 23, 2010	Eurosondagem	60.0%	30.0%	4.8%	0.7%	4.5%	—	—	30.0% over Alegre
December 19, 2010	INTERCAMPUS	64.3%	20.7%	5.5%	1.0%	4.5%	—	—	43.6% over Alegre
November 27, 2010	Eurosondagem	57.0%	32.0%	5.2%	1.0%	4.8%	—	—	25.0% over Alegre
November 26, 2010	Marktest	78.3%	15.0%	4.0%	0.0%	0.7%	—	—	63.3% over Alegre
November 21, 2010	INTERCAMPUS	61.5%	26.1%	4.5%	0.5%	3.7%	—	3.7%	35.4% over Alegre
October 29, 2010	Marktest	71.3%	20.2%	5.0%	0.9%	1.1%	—	—	51.1% over Alegre
October 29, 2010	Universidade Católica	63.0%	20.0%	7.0%	1.0%	3.0%	—	—	43.0% over Alegre
October 13, 2010	Aximage	55.1%	35.7%	7.1%	0.2%	1.9%	—	—	19.4% over Alegre
October 9, 2010	INTERCAMPUS	55.5%	30.7%	4.9%	1.2%	5.6%	—	—	24.8% over Alegre
September 25, 2010	Marktest	71.0%	22.0%	4.0%	0.2%	1.0%	—	—	49.0% over Alegre
September 24, 2010	Eurosondagem	54.9%	33.0%	6.2%	1.1%	4.8%	—	—	21.9% over Alegre
September 12, 2010	Aximage	58.1%	32.1%	5.4%	0.0%	4.4%	—	—	26.0% over Alegre
July 31, 2010	Marktest	67.1%	19.6%	10.0%	0.7%	—	—	—	47.5% over Alegre
July 24, 2010	INTERCAMPUS	59.4%	26.8%	9.1%	2.9%	—	—	—	32.6% over Alegre
July 12, 2010	Euroexpansão	51.1%	14.7%	4.1%	—	—	—	22.1%	36.4% over Alegre
July 11, 2010	Aximage	55.3%	26.9%	11.6%	—	—	—	6.2%	28.4% over Alegre
June 28, 2010	Universidade Católica	50.0%	19.0%	7.0%	—	—	—	25.0%	31.0% over Alegre
June 13, 2010	Aximage	53.4%	28.1%	8.6%	—	—	—	9.9%	25.3% over Alegre
March 14, 2010	Universidade Católica	57.0%	19.0%	8.0%	—	—	—	16.0%	38.0% over Alegre
March 13, 2010	Aximage	56.0%	21.6%	13.8%	—	—	—	8.6%	34.4% over Alegre
March 12, 2010	Eurosondagem	36.9%	25.0%	9.6%	—	(5.0%)	—	23.5%	11.9% over Alegre
January 22, 2010	Aximage	60.3%	39.7%	—	—	—	—	—	20.6% over Alegre

Campaign Budgets

Candidate (party)	Election Result	State Subsidy		Political Parties Contributions	Fundraising	Total Recipes		Expenses	Debt
Candidate (party)	Election Result	Calculated	Budgeted	Political Parties Contributions	Fundraising	Calculated	Budgeted	Expenses	Debt
(PSD, CDS-PP, MEP)	53.0%	€1,920,000	€1,570,000	€0	€550,000	€2,470,000	€2,120,000	€2,120,000	€0
(PS, BE, PDA, PCTP)	19.7%	€836,000	€1,350,000	€500,000	€50,000	€1,386,000	€1,900,000	€1,640,000	€254,000
(I)	14.1%	€653,000	€511,200	€0	€331,460	€984,460	€842,660	€842,660	€0
(PCP, PEV)	7.1%	€425,000	€512,000	€270,000	€18,000	€713,000	€800,000	€800,000	€87,000
(I)	1.6%	€0	€225,000	€0	€25,000	€25,000	€250,000	€250,000	€225,000
(PND)	4.5%	€0	€10,000	€30,000	€50,000	€80,000	€90,000	€90,000	€10,000
(PPV)	-	-	€7,000	€0	€0	€7,000	€7,000	€7,000	€0
Source: Portuguese Constitutional Court Portuguese Constitutional Court The Portuguese Constitutional Court is a special court, defined by the Portuguese Constitution as part of the judicial branch of the Portuguese political organization. Unlike the rest of the country's courts, the Constitutional Court has important characteristics, such as a special composition,... (TC) (Note that some candidates filed with the TC, but did not pursue their candidacy.)

Results

Summary of the 23 January 2011 Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

presidential

President of Portugal

Portugal has been a republic since 1910, and since that time the head of state has been the president, whose official title is President of the Portuguese Republic ....

election results

Elections in Portugal

Elections in Portugal gives information on election and election results in Portugal.Only the elections since the Carnation Revolution of 1974 are listed here. During the period encompassing the Constitutional Monarchy and the First Republic there were also elections, but only for a limited...

Aníbal Cavaco Silva

|align=left|Social Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party (Portugal)

The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party...

, People's Party, Hope for Portugal Movement

Hope for Portugal Movement

Hope for Portugal Movement is a minor centre political party in Portugal. It has no representatives in the Assembly of the Republic, the Portuguese legislature...

Manuel Alegre

Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte, GCL , is a Portuguese poet and politician, member of the Socialist Party, and a candidate to the Portuguese presidential election, 2006...

|align=left|Socialist Party

Socialist Party (Portugal)

, Left Bloc, Democratic Party of the Atlantic

Democratic Party of the Atlantic

The Democratic Party of the Atlantic is one of the political parties in Portugal, without parliamentary representation. It is a small party whose electorate concentrates itself in São Miguel island, in the Azores. PDA promotes, officially, not independence, but home rule for the Azores, following...

Fernando Nobre

Fernando José de La Vieter Ribeiro Nobre is a Portuguese doctor who is the founder and president of the Portuguese NGO AMI . In 2007 he was voted as the 25th greatest Portuguese ever in the contest Os Grandes Portugueses, being the 5th most voted among Portuguese living people at that date...

|align=left|Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

Francisco Lopes

Francisco José de Almeida Lopes is a Portuguese politician who, supported by the Communist Party, ran for president in the Portuguese presidential election of 2011....

|align=left|Portuguese Communist Party

Portuguese Communist Party

The Portuguese Communist Party is a major left-wing political party in Portugal. It is a Marxist-Leninist party, and its organization is based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself to be patriotic and internationalist....

José Manuel Coelho

Jose Manuel Vieira Coelho da Mata is a Portuguese politician. He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party until 1999, and still calls himself a communist "who evolved". He was substitute deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira for the New Democracy Party, taking office in 2008...

Independent (politician)

|align="right" |67,110
|align="right" |1.59
|-
|colspan="3" align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid
|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,214,860
|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00
|-
|align=right colspan="3"|Blank ballots
|width="65" align="right" |192,127
|width="40" align="right" |4.28
|-
|align=right colspan="3" |Invalid ballots
|width="65" align="right"|85,466
|width="40" align="right"|1.90
|-
|colspan="3" align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total (turnout 46.52%)
|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,492,453
|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|-
|colspan=5 align=left|Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições
|}

External links
Official campaign websites

Other websites

Portuguese Electoral Commission
Official results site, Portuguese Justice Ministry
Publication of Polls (ERC)
NSD: European Election Database - Portugal publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990-2010

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