More than seven thousand voters have already voted in Lisbon.

More than seven thousand voters exercised their right to cast their ballots in advance this Sunday morning in the European elections taking place next Sunday in the university city of Lisbon, with some believing “the future of Europe is under threat.”

This is the case with Celeste Rodriguez, who told Lusa that it is necessary to have “representatives who know how to understand the needs of the country and at the same time understand the needs of Europe in order to make the world a better place.”

“I believe that these elections are decisive. And for this reason, as well as for other reasons related to the functioning of the country, I believe that people need to participate in the elections,” he emphasized.

Speaking at the law school’s main entrance, Celeste Rodriguez also said the campaign “was more educational” than she expected, but noted that “there were a few issues that ended up coming up” that weren’t discussed.

“At least noticeably. They did not appear on social networks and traditional media. However, I believe that several candidates who are participating in these elections are people capable of representing the country,” he emphasized.

There, José Botelho, who goes on vacation next week, considered it “more functional” to use early mobile voting today and considered these elections important.

“Especially to understand not only the political balance in Europe, but also to understand a little how the political balance is developing in Portugal. Not to draw national conclusions. We need to understand what the balances are,” he emphasized.

Regarding the campaign, José Botelho noted that “it is moving a little towards politics.”

“There are a lot of personal accusations. There are a lot of “little things”. It would be better to get away from these “little things” and get a little more political. I think. I think the situation is getting a little worse,” he said.

Isabel Sarmento, who spoke at Aula Magna, emphasized the importance of early voting in times of mobility, saying that “it is of fundamental importance,” especially “when there are holidays planned for the election date, when there is a routine.”

Addressing Lusa, he noted that the campaign and debate had not been very informative and that “most people don’t know what it’s all about.”

“They may even know what the problems are, but they don’t know what solutions each of these parties has to solve those problems,” he said.

However, Joaquim Gato also said that the debate was not very informative, calling it “very bad.”

“There were more quarrels than arguments (…). More than what you say, I will say this… I already knew what I would vote for. I also think there can be people having an enlightened debate,” he said.

Lisbon City Council Vice President Filipe Anacoreta Correia told reporters on site that by 12:00 pm, 22% of the 34,606 voters registered for early mobile voting had exercised their right to vote – 7,687 more registered than in the last legislative elections organs – in 107 tables.

According to Filipe Anacoreta Correia, “everything is going quite well,” without any incidents.

More than 252,000 Portuguese voters will be able to cast their ballots in advance this Sunday in the European elections on June 9.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, voted in advance for the European elections, which are expected to attract the votes of more than 10.8 million Portuguese who will choose 21 of the 720 MEPs.

Some 373 million European voters are called upon to vote for the European Parliament between 6 and 9 June. In Portugal, voting will take place on the 9th.

720 Members of the European Parliament will be elected, 21 of whom are Portuguese.

A total of 17 parties and coalitions are participating in the elections: AD, PS, Chega, IL, BE, CDU, Livre, PAN, ADN, MAS, Ergue-te, Nova Direita, Volt Portugal, RIR, Nós Cidadãos, MPT and PTP.