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1991 Portuguese presidential election

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1991 Portuguese presidential election

← 1986 13 January 1991 1996 →
Turnout62.16% (Decrease 13.23pp)
 
Medalha de Galiza 1993 - 5.jpg
Basilio Horta na Exponor.jpg
Carlos Carvalhas no XIX Congresso do PCP (cropped).png
Candidate Mário Soares Basílio Horta Carlos Carvalhas
Party PS CDS PCP
Popular vote 3,459,521 696,379 635,373
Percentage 70.35% 14.16% 12.92%


President before election

Mário Soares
PS

Elected President

Mário Soares
PS

Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 13 January 1991.

The re-election of the hugely popular Mário Soares was never in doubt, specially after the then-ruling PSD, led by Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva announced its support. Therefore, the election held on 13 January 1991 was a landslide, and no second round was needed.

As the election of a left-wing candidate was assured, other left-wing parties, the Portuguese Communist Party and the People's Democratic Union, presented their own candidates. The communists presented Carlos Carvalhas, who had been Assistant General Secretary of the Party a year before (Álvaro Cunhal was the secretary-general). Carvalhas would later be elected secretary-general, in 1992.

On the right, as the Social Democratic Party supported Soares, the Democratic and Social Centre presented the only right-wing candidate, Basílio Horta.

Mário Soares achieved the majority of the votes in every district of the country, and 295 of the then 305 municipalities. His score was the biggest ever in a presidential election in Portugal.

Electoral system

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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 7,500 and 15,000 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

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Official candidates

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Decided not to run

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Campaign period

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Party slogans

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Candidate Original slogan English translation Refs
Mário Soares « Soares é fixe » "Soares is cool" [2]
Basílio Horta « Um Homem às direitas » "An upright man" [3]
Carlos Carvalhas « Portugal pode ser melhor » "Portugal can be better" [4]
Carlos Manuel Marques « A coragem de ser solidário » "The courage to be supportive" [5]

Candidates' debates

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1991 Portuguese presidential election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present    A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee 
Soares Horta Carvalhas Marques Refs
21 Nov 1990 RTP1 Vicente Jorge Silva
Maria Elisa Domingues
P A P P [6]
4 Dec 1990 RTP1 - N N P P [7]
6 Dec 1990 RTP1 Mário Crespo P P N N [8]
11 Dec 1990 RTP1 - P N P N [9]
13 Dec 1990 RTP1 - N P N P [10]
19 Dec 1990 RTP1 - P N N P [11]
20 Dec 1990 RTP1 - N P P N [12]
21 Dec 1990 RTP2 Joaquim Furtado P P P P [13]

Opinion polls

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  Exit poll

Polling firm Date released Sample
size
Lead
Soares
PS
Horta
CDS
Carvalhas
PCP
Marques
UDP
Election results 13 Jan 1991 70.4 14.2 12.9 2.6 56.2
Euroexpansão/RTP 13 Jan 1991 69.5–73.4 14.1–17.2 9.3–12.6 1.6–2.9 55.8

Results

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CandidatePartyVotes%
Mário SoaresSocialist Party3,459,52170.35
Basílio HortaDemocratic and Social Centre696,37914.16
Carlos CarvalhasPortuguese Communist PartyThe Greens635,37312.92
Carlos Manuel Marques [pt]Popular Democratic Union126,5812.57
Total4,917,854100.00
Valid votes4,917,85496.45
Invalid votes68,0371.33
Blank votes112,8772.21
Total votes5,098,768100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,202,21262.16
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Results by district

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District Soares Horta Carvalhas Marques Turnout
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
  Aveiro 250,336 77.27% 49,675 15.33% 17,894 5.52% 6,065 1.87% 64.36%
  Azores 75,530 80.66% 12,192 13.02% 3,652 3.49% 6,685 6.39% 51.79%
  Beja 48,694 54.06% 5,293 5.88% 33,796 37.52% 2,294 2.55% 60.34%
  Braga 287,287 77.49% 50,991 13.75% 26,230 7.08% 6,210 1.68% 66.41%
  Bragança 51,571 67.48% 19,373 25.35% 3,869 5.06% 1,615 2.11% 53.18%
  Castelo Branco 82,470 71.63% 18,627 16.18% 10,593 9.20% 3,443 2.99% 60.29%
  Coimbra 166,041 76.86% 26,416 12.23% 19,084 8.83% 4,498 2.08% 61.08%
  Évora 50,805 53.99% 7,710 8.19% 33,313 35.40% 2,281 2.42% 64.94%
  Faro 123,550 72.40% 21,332 12.50% 20,481 12.00% 5,280 3.09% 60.92%
  Guarda 69,632 71.33% 19,874 20.36% 5,815 5.96% 2,293 2.35% 58.23%
  Leiria 150,993 72.41% 38,014 18.23% 14,969 7.18% 4,535 2.17% 60.93%
  Lisbon 675,760 64.89% 156,424 15.02% 177,275 17.02% 31,860 3.06% 61.73%
  Madeira 70,632 67.22% 23,981 22.91% 3,652 3.49% 6,685 6.39% 57.98%
  Portalegre 48,170 64.25% 7,693 10.26% 17,271 23.03% 1,844 2.46% 66.26%
  Porto 627,195 76.50% 101,665 12.40% 75,517 9.21% 15,536 1.89% 65.39%
  Santarém 161,301 68.96% 30,938 13.23% 34,996 14.96% 6,662 2.85% 63.33%
  Setúbal 198,977 55.83% 29,955 8.40% 113,232 31.77% 14,248 4.00% 62.93%
  Viana do Castelo 92,312 75.26% 18,397 15.00% 9,263 7.55% 2,693 2.20% 59.35%
  Vila Real 84,358 75.05% 20,139 17.92% 5,738 5.10% 2,174 1.93% 54.63%
  Viseu 145,010 75.41% 33,945 17.65% 9,869 5.13% 3,480 1.81% 57.96%
Source: SGMAI Presidential Election Results

Maps

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References

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  1. ^ "Lucas Pires anuncia desistência da candidatura à Presidência". RTP (in Portuguese). 7 September 1990. 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 12 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Candidatura de Carlos Marques à Presidência da República". RTP (in Portuguese). 6 May 1990. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Debate entre os candidatos à Presidência da República". RTP (in Portuguese). 21 November 1990. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Página Principal".
  8. ^ "Os debates".
  9. ^ "Página Principal".
  10. ^ "Página Principal".
  11. ^ "Página Principal".
  12. ^ "Página Principal".
  13. ^ "Página Principal".
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