1979 Portuguese local elections explained

Election Name:	1979 Portuguese local elections
Country:	Portugal
Type:	parliamentary
Previous Election:	1976 Portuguese local elections
Previous Year:	1976
Next Election:	1982 Portuguese local elections
Next Year:	1982
Seats For Election:	All 305 Portuguese municipalities and 4,260 Portuguese Parishes All 1,900 local government councils
Election Date:	16 December 1979
Turnout:	71.7% 7.0 pp
1Blank:	Mayors
2Blank:	Mayors +/–
3Blank:	Councillors
4Blank:	Councillors +/–
Colour1:	2A52BE
Leader1:	Francisco Sá Carneiro
Party1:	PSD
Alliance1:	AD
Last Election1:	152 mayors, 41.1%
Popular Vote1:	2,109,072^[1]
Percentage1:	47.5%
Swing1:	6.4 pp
1Data1:	195^[2]
2Data1:	43
3Data1:	1,063^[3]
4Data1:	119
Leader2:	Mário Soares
Party2:	Socialist Party (Portugal)
Last Election2:	115 mayors, 33.0%
Popular Vote2:	1,258,966
Percentage2:	28.3%
Swing2:	4.7 pp
1Data2:	60
2Data2:	55
3Data2:	516
4Data2:	175
Colour3:	FF0000
Leader3:	Álvaro Cunhal
Party3:	PCP
Alliance3:	APU
Last Election3:	37 mayors, 17.3%
Popular Vote3:	885,899
Percentage3:	19.9%
Swing3:	2.6 pp
1Data3:	50
2Data3:	13
3Data3:	316
4Data3:	48

Local elections were held in Portugal on 16 December 1979. They were the 2nd local elections in Portugal since the democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power. The elections took place just two weeks after the 1979 legislative election.

The elections consisted of three separate elections in the 305 Portuguese municipalities, the election for the Municipal Chambers, whose winner is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP), another election for the Municipal Assembly and a last one for the lower-level Parish Assembly, whose winner is elected parish president, this last was held separately in the more than 4,000 parishes around the country.

The Socialist Party finished on the top of the results table, however that was because the coalition between the two major right-wing parties, the Democratic and Social Center and the Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Alliance, did not participated in all Municipalities and Parishes, being the parties which composed it, separated in many Municipalities

The left-wing United People Alliance dominated the election in the municipalities of the South of the country, gathering more than 60 percent of the votes.

Turnout in these elections increased compared with the 1976 election, as 71.7 percent of the electorate cast a ballot, the highest turnout recorded in a nationwide local election.

Parties

The main political forces involved in the election were:

• Democratic Alliance (AD) (only in some municipalities)
• Democratic and Social Center (CDS) (only in some municipalities)
• Socialist Party (PS)
• Social Democratic Party (PSD) (only in some municipalities)
• United People Alliance (APU)

Results

Municipal Councils

National summary of votes and seats

|-! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Candidacies! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Councillors! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Mayors|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|±! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|±|-| |align=right| 1,258,966|align=right| 28.33|align=right|4.7|align=right| 297|align=right| 516|align=right|175|align=right| 60|align=right|55|-|style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#2A52BE align="center" | |align=left|Democratic Alliance|align=right| 1,044,642|align=right| 23.51|align=right| —|align=right| 138|align=right| 426 |align=right| —|align=right| 73|align=right| —|- | |align=right| 885,899 |align=right| 19.94|align=right| 2.6|align=right| 295|align=right| 316|align=right| 48|align=right| 50|align=right|13|-| |align=right| 723,953|align=right| 16.29|align=right| 8.0|align=right| 156|align=right| 475 |align=right|149|align=right| 101|align=right|14|-| |align=right| 334,258|align=right| 7.52|align=right| 9.1|align=right| 102|align=right| 156 |align=right|161|align=right| 20|align=right|16|-|style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#E2062C align="center" | |align=left|People's Democratic Union|align=right| 53,076 |align=right| 1.19|align=right| —|align=right| 95|align=right| 3 |align=right| —|align=right| 0|align=right| —|-| |align=right| 19,508 |align=right| 0.44|align=right| 0.2|align=right| 63|align=right| 0|align=right| 0|align=right| 0|align=right|0|-| |align=right| 6,631 |align=right| 0.15|align=right| —|align=right| 9|align=right| 2 |align=right| —|align=right| 0|align=right| —|-| |align=right| 6,219 |align=right| 0.14|align=right| 0.1|align=right| 3|align=right| 6 |align=right|3|align=right| 1|align=right|0|-| |align=right| 1,882|align=right| 0.04|align=right| —|align=right| 7|align=right| 0 |align=right| —|align=right| 0|align=right| —|-| |align=right| 273|align=right| 0.01|align=right| —|align=right| 2|align=right| 0 |align=right| —|align=right| 0|align=right| —|-|colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,271,897|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|97.56|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|1.8|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|—|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|1,900|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|8|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|305|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|1|-|colspan=2|Blank ballots|44,693||1.01||1.1||colspan=6 rowspan=4||-|colspan=2|Invalid ballots|63,679||1.43||0.7|-|colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,380,269|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"||-|colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout||6,105,651||71.74||7.1|-| colspan=10 align=left|In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.|}

City control

The following table lists party control in all district capitals, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from the 1970 Census.^[4]

Municipality	Population	Previous control		New control
Almada	107,575		United People Alliance (APU)		United People Alliance (APU)
Amadora	111,929	Municipality created			United People Alliance (APU)
Aveiro	49,808		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Beja	36,384		United People Alliance (APU)		United People Alliance (APU)
Braga	96,918		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Bragança	33,070		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Cascais	92,907		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Castelo Branco	55,195		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Coimbra	110,553		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Évora	47,244		United People Alliance (APU)		United People Alliance (APU)
Faro	30,973		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Funchal	101,810		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Gondomar	105,075		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Guarda	39,741		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Guimarães	122,719		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Leiria	80,241		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Lisbon	769,044		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Loures	166,167		Socialist Party (PS)		United People Alliance (APU)
Matosinhos	109,225		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Oeiras	180,194		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Ponta Delgada	67,975		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Portalegre	25,800		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Porto	301,655		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Santarém	56,440		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Setúbal	65,230		Socialist Party (PS)		United People Alliance (APU)
Sintra	124,893		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Viana do Castelo	70,455		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Vila Nova de Gaia	180,875		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Vila Real	44,550		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Viseu	73,010		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)

Municipal Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

|-! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Candidacies! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Mandates|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|±|-| |align=right| 1,245,306 |align=right| 27.86|align=right| 5.5|align=right| |align=right| 2,686|align=right| 988|-|style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#2A52BE align="center" | |align=left|Democratic Alliance|align=right| 1,056,656|align=right| 23.64|align=right| —|align=right| |align=right| 2,122|align=right| —|- | |align=right| 916,990 |align=right| 20.51|align=right|2.4|align=right| |align=right| 1,746|align=right|1,067|-| |align=right| 747,911|align=right| 16.73|align=right|7.8|align=right| |align=right| 2,230 |align=right|572|-| |align=right| 308,721|align=right| 6.91|align=right|9.5|align=right| |align=right| 832|align=right|221|-|style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#E2062C align="center" | |align=left|People's Democratic Union|align=right| 55,794 |align=right| 1.25|align=right| —|align=right| |align=right| 58|align=right| —|-| |align=right| 10,783 |align=right| 0.24|align=right| 0.1|align=right| |align=right| 0|align=right|0|-| |align=right| 5,578 |align=right| 0.12|align=right| 0.0|align=right| |align=right| 26|align=right| 24|-| |align=right| 596 |align=right| 0.01|align=right| —|align=right||align=right| 3 |align=right| —|-| |align=right| 417|align=right| 0.00|align=right| 0.0|align=right| |align=right| 0|align=right|0|-|colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,266,013|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|97.28|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|2.1|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|—|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|9,703|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,568|-|colspan=2|Blank ballots|59,564||1.33||1.2||colspan=6 rowspan=4||-|colspan=2|Invalid ballots|62,241||1.39||0.9|-|colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,387,818|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"||-|colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout||6,105,647||71.86||7.3|-| colspan=9 align=left|In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.|}

Parish Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

|-! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Candidacies! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Mandates! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Presidents|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|±! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|±|-| |align=right| 1,219,298 |align=right| 27.77|align=right| 4.9|align=right| |align=right| 10,613|align=right| 2,268|align=right||align=right||-|style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#2A52BE align="center" | |align=left|Democratic Alliance|align=right| 1,000,702|align=right| 22.79|align=right| —|align=right| |align=right| 9,785 |align=right| —|align=right||align=right| —|- | |align=right| 898,670 |align=right| 20.47|align=right| 5.1|align=right| |align=right| 4,732|align=right| 2,441|align=right||align=right||-| |align=right| 736,954 |align=right| 16.78|align=right| 7.6|align=right||align=right| 9,447 |align=right| 371|align=right||align=right||-| |align=right| 306,332 |align=right| 6.98|align=right| 8.1|align=right| |align=right| 4,661|align=right| 416|align=right||align=right||-|style="width: 8px" bgcolor=gray align="center" ||align=left|Independents|align=right| 49,207 |align=right| 1.12|align=right| 2.9|align=right| |align=right| 707 |align=right| 523|align=right||align=right||-|style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#E2062C align="center" | |align=left|People's Democratic Union|align=right| 41,414|align=right| 0.94|align=right| —|align=right| |align=right| 55|align=right| —|align=right||align=right| —|-| |align=right| 6,010 |align=right| 0.14|align=right| 0.2|align=right| |align=right| 3|align=right| 1|align=right||align=right| |-| |align=right| 5,006 |align=right| 0.12|align=right| 0.1|align=right| |align=right| 78 |align=right| 66|align=right||align=right| |-| |align=right| 2,594|align=right| 0.06|align=right| —|align=right| |align=right| 26|align=right| —|align=right||align=right| —|-| |align=right| 695 |align=right| 0.02|align=right| —|align=right| |align=right| 1 |align=right| —|align=right||align=right| — |-| |align=right| 600|align=right| 0.01|align=right| —|align=right||align=right| 2 |align=right| —|align=right||align=right| — |-|colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,141,981|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|97.19|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|1.6|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|—|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|40,110|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|—|width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"| |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|—|-|colspan=2|Blank ballots|54,704||1.25||0.9||colspan=6 rowspan=4||-|colspan=2|Invalid ballots|68,502||1.56||0.7|-|colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,265,187|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"||-|colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout||6,031,266||70.72||5.1|-| colspan=10 align=left|In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.|}

Maps

Notes

• The source of the voting data is the Portuguese Electoral Commission

Further Notes:

• Democratic Alliance (AD) was composed by the Democratic Social Center (CDS), the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM).
• Although the PSD, the CDS and the PPM were united in the Democratic Alliance, they appear in the scorecard because they ran separated in several municipalities.
• United People Alliance (APU) was composed by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE).
• The number of candidacies expresses the number of municipalities or parishes in which the party or coalition presented lists.
• The number of mandates expresses the number of municipal deputies in the Municipal Assembly election and the number of parish deputies in the Parish Assembly election.
• The turnout varies because one may choose not to vote for all the organs.

See also

• Politics of Portugal
• List of political parties in Portugal
• Elections in Portugal

References

1. Sum of PSD, AD, CDS and PPM votes.
2. Sum of PSD, AD, CDS and PPM elected mayors.
3. Sum of PSD, AD, CDS and PPM elected councillors.
4. Web site: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Recenseamentos Gerais da População). www.ine.pt. . pt . 17 July 2021.

External links

• Comissão Nacional de Eleições