According to the Electoral Administration, expatriate votes in Portugal’s legislative elections continue to exceed the number recorded in previous elections for the Assembly of the Republic, while the number of returned letters has dropped by more than a quarter.
The most recent bulletin from the General Secretariat of the Ministry of the Interior (SGMAI) with information and figures on overseas voting in last Sunday’s elections shows that of the more than 1.5 million letters sent by Portugal to these voters, 291,921 letters have been sent since 4 February. the votes were received by Thursday.
Compared to the 2022 legislative elections, in which 196,486 letters were received during the same period, the number of expatriate votes received in Portugal increased by 48.5%.
Ballot letters began arriving on February 20, with the majority coming from Europe – 224,326 (77%), followed by America (56,926, 19%), Africa (8,873, 3%) and Asia and Oceania (1,696.1%).
Election administration is making progress, although 98,670 letters were returned, down 26.9% from the 135,038 returned in 2022 over the same period.
The main reason for returned letters is the “unknown” recipient at the specified address (62.3%), followed by “unclaimed” (13.3%). Europe is the main source of returned emails (92,913, 94%).
The votes of the Portuguese emigrants will lead to the election of four deputies who could influence the final result of this electoral act, since the Democratic Alliance coalition (PSD/CDU/PPM) elected 79 deputies and the PS – 77.
On Monday and until Wednesday, the votes of these emigrants will be collected and counted, and the result of their vote will be scheduled for the end of Wednesday.
Only after this date, and after hearing the parties represented in Parliament, will the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, appoint a new Prime Minister.
The Democratic Alliance won an indirect victory with 29.5% in Sunday’s national legislative elections.
After PS, Chega was the third most voted force with 48 parliamentarians, followed by IL (eight seats), BE (five), Livre and CDU (four each) and PAN (one).