The final hours of campaigning for the second round of Portugal’s presidential election are now focused on whether the vote can actually proceed as planned this Sunday.
Recent weeks have been marked by severe weather battering the country since January 28th and the presidential campaign has been impacted by the reality on the ground, particularly following the effects of Depression Kristin, which caused significant damage in the Central region of Portugal.
Both candidates have cancelled campaign events, visited some of the worst-affected areas, participated in collecting donations, and donated campaign poster materials.
The official campaign period for Sunday’s presidential runoff ends this Friday. António José Seguro is scheduled to be in the North region, while André Ventura is heading to Alcácer do Sal.
Seguro, backed by the Socialist Party (PS) and who received the most votes in the first round of the presidential election on January 18th, has a visit planned to a health technology company in Porto in the late morning. He will then hold a rally in Lionesa, Matosinhos, in the Porto district in the evening.
Ventura, supported by the Chega party and who also leads that party, will be in Beja and Alcácer do Sal, in the Setúbal district, one of the areas most affected by the bad weather and the first to announce a decision to postpone elections.
Seguro won the first round of the presidential elections, held on January 18th, with 31.11% of the vote. Ventura was the second most voted candidate, with 23.52% of the vote. In the second round, voters will choose the successor to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who was elected in 2016. The next President of the Republic will take office on March 9th.
Which municipalities will postpone the election?
In addition to Alcácer do Sal, Arruda dos Vinhos and Golegã have also decided to postpone voting for eight days. These three municipalities will vote on February 15th in the second round of the presidential elections.
Other municipalities may announce a decision in the same vein in the coming hours. In Pombal, for example, the municipality announced this Friday that it will hold the presidential elections this Sunday, despite the challenges such as power outages and communication disruptions in recent days. In a statement, the Pombal Municipal Council informed that the decision was made on Thursday at the daily meeting of the Municipal Operational Coordination Center (CCOM), which includes various entities, including the municipal executive and the parish councils.
The municipality stated that the physical conditions for holding the election are in place, but that the right to the period of reflection cannot be guaranteed, considering that most residents are concerned with resolving the damage to their property caused by the bad weather.
Meanwhile, the municipality of Ourém has confirmed that it has the conditions to hold the second round next Sunday. “For now, we are not thinking of changing anything. We have all the polling stations prepared so that people can vote. Apparently, there is no impediment to roads. We are still evaluating, but in principle we will maintain,” the mayor told the Lusa news agency.
Luís Albuquerque indicated that water levels “are falling” and therefore the forecast is that “there may be conditions for everything to proceed normally.”
What does the CNE say?
On Thursday, presidential candidate André Ventura proposed postponing the elections. However, the electoral law does not foresee or allow for this possibility. It is only admitted that certain localities affected by bad weather may do so.
In a statement, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) confirmed that there is no change to the election date.
“In some municipalities, the polling stations have been changed in order to guarantee the regular functioning of the electoral process, and this is the preferred method to be adopted,” the CNE indicates, appealing to voters to consult and confirm the polling station location.
However, “as a last resort and on an exceptional basis, the mayors can postpone the vote in each polling station,” based on “local, exceptional and concrete circumstances, particularly when safety conditions, access to polling stations for voters or the functioning of the polling station are not guaranteed.”
“The existence of a state of calamity, weather warnings or adverse situations of a general nature does not, in itself, constitute sufficient grounds for postponing the vote at the municipal or district level,” the National Electoral Commission emphasizes.
Obeying criteria of “reasonableness and proportionality,” the law “does not oblige the postponement in all polling stations in the municipality nor allow the general postponement of the elections at the national level.”
“Any decision to postpone the vote must be immediately and widely disseminated to the population. The vote is necessarily held on the 7th day thereafter” and, “regardless of any postponement, the provisional results of the scrutiny are also disclosed from 8:00 pm on February 8th.”
“The law is very clear,” says Marcelo
Also on Thursday, in statements to journalists, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized that “the law is very clear” and that “it is the mayors” who have the decision in their hands to postpone or not the elections in their municipality.
“The law is what it is, we are two days away from the elections, and therefore the law must be applied,” said the current President of the Republic.
