1986 Portuguese presidential election

The Portuguese presidential election of 1986 was held on 26 January, the second round took place on 16 February.

1986 Portuguese presidential election
26 January 1986 (1st round)
16 February 1986 (2nd round)
Turnout75.4% (1st round) 9.0 pp
78.0% (2nd round) 2.6 pp
 
Candidate Mário Soares Diogo Freitas do Amaral
Party PS CDS
Popular vote 3,010,756 2,872,064
Percentage 51.2% 48.8%
President before election

António Ramalho Eanes
Independent

 Elected President

Mário Soares
PS

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Portugal
Portugal

This was closest presidential election ever held in Portugal and was won by the Socialist Mário Soares, who initially had no more than 5% at opinion polls.

In first round was easily won by Freitas do Amaral, supported by all the right-wing parties, while Soares defeated the other two left-wing candidates, the former Prime-Minister Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo –the first woman to be a candidate to the Portuguese presidency – and Salgado Zenha (supported by outgoing president António Ramalho Eanes, founder of the short-lived Democratic Renewal Party, and by the Portuguese Communist Party, whose candidate, Ângelo Veloso, left the race some days before the poll). Both these candidates supported Soares in the second round.

Soares did not achieve the majority of the voting in any district, as the left-wing strongholds in the South of Portugal voted for Zenha due to his support by the Communist Party.

As results for the second round were counted, the urban vote, traditionally more left-wing, overcame the early lead of Freitas do Amaral by less than 140,000 votes, and Soares became president on 9 March 1986.

As of 2020, this was the only time a Portuguese presidential election was taken into a second round.

Procedure

Any 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.

According to the Portuguese Constitution, to be elected, a candidate needs a majority of votes. If no candidate gets this majority there will take place a second round between the two most voted candidates.

Candidates

Official candidates

Unsuccessful candidacies

There were also three candidates rejected by the Portuguese Constitutional Court for not complying with the legal requirements, those were:

  • Carmelinda dos Santos Pereira;
  • Luís Carlos Franco;
  • Álvaro Manuel Nunes;

Campaign period

Party slogans
Candidate Original slogan English translation Refs
Mário Soares « O voto do Povo »
« Soares é fixe »		 "The vote of the People"
"Soares is cool"		 [1]
Diogo Freitas do Amaral « Está na hora! »
« Prá Frente Portugal! »		 "It's time!"
"Go Forward Portugal!"		 [2]
Francisco Salgado Zenha « Justiça e tolerancia, confiança no futuro » "Justice and tolerance, confidence in the future" [3]
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo « A coragem da decisão » "The courage of the decision" [4]

1st round
1986 Portuguese presidential election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present    A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee 
Soares Freitas Zenha Pintasilgo Refs
17 Dec 1985 RTP1 Margarida Marante N P P N [5]
19 Dec 1985 RTP1 Miguel Sousa Tavares P N N P [6]
26 Dec 1985 RTP1 Miguel Sousa Tavares N P N P [7]
2 Jan 1986 RTP1 Miguel Sousa Tavares P N P N [8]
7 Jan 1986 RTP1 Margarida Marante N N P P [9]
9 Jan 1986 RTP1 Miguel Sousa Tavares P P N N [10]

2nd round
1986 Portuguese presidential election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present    A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee 
Soares Freitas Refs
6 Feb 1986 RTP1 Margarida Marante
Miguel Sousa Tavares		 P P [11]

Results

Summary of the 26 January and 16 February 1986 Portuguesepresidentialelection results

 
Candidates Supporting parties First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
Diogo Freitas do Amaral Democratic and Social Centre, Social Democratic Party 2,629,597 46.31 2,872,064 48.82
Mário Soares Socialist Party 1,443,683 25.43 3,010,756 51.18
Francisco Salgado Zenha Democratic Renewal Party, Portuguese Communist Party 1,185,867 20.88  
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Independent 418,961 7.38
Ângelo Veloso[A] Portuguese Communist Party left the race
Total valid 5,678,108 100.00 5,882,820 100.00
Blank ballots 46,334 0.81 33,844 0.57
Invalid ballots 18,292 0.32 20,436 0.34
Total 5,742,734 5,937,100
Registered voters/turnout 7,617,25775.38 7,612,63377.99
A He left the race in favor of Salgado Zenha.
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições
Vote share 1st Round
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
 
 46.31%
Mário Soares
 
 25.43%
Francisco Salgado Zenha
 
 20.88%
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
 
 7.38%
Blank/Invalid
 
 1.13%
Vote share 2nd Round
Mário Soares
 
 51.18%
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
 
 48.82%
Blank/Invalid
 
 0.91%

Maps
  • Most voted candidate by district - 1st Round.
  • Most voted candidate by district - 2nd Round.
  • Strongest candidate by municipality - 1st Round.
  • Strongest candidate by municipality - 2nd Round.

References
  1. "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  2. "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  3. "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  4. "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. "Primeiro frente a frente entre Zenha Freitas". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 18 December 1985. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  6. "Programação RTP". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 19 December 1985. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  7. "Programação RTP". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 26 December 1985. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  8. "Nenhum foi surpreendido". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 3 January 1986. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  9. "Programação RTP". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 7 January 1986. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  10. "Programação RTP". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 9 January 1986. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  11. "Os debates". Comunicar Política (in Portuguese). 18 February 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2020.

See also
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