1979 Portuguese local elections

The Portuguese local elections of 1979 took place on 16 December. They were the second local elections in Portugal since the democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power.

1979 Portuguese local elections
16 December 1979
All 305 Portuguese municipalities and 4,260 Portuguese Parishes
All 1,900 local government councils
Turnout71.7% 7.0 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Francisco Sá Carneiro Mário Soares Álvaro Cunhal
Party PSD PS PCP
Alliance AD APU
Last election 152 mayors, 41.1% 115 mayors, 33.0% 37 mayors, 17.3%
Popular vote 2,109,072[1] 1,258,966 885,899
Percentage 47.5% 28.3% 19.9%
Swing 6.4 pp 4.7 pp 2.6 pp
Mayors 195[2] 60 50
Mayors +/– 43 55 13
Councillors 1,063[3] 516 316
Councillors +/– 119 175 48
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The elections consisted of three separate elections in the 305 Portuguese municipalities, the election for the Municipal Chambers, whose winner is elected mayor, 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% of the voting.

Turnout in these elections increased compared with the 1976 election, as 71.7% 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:

Results

National summary of votes and seats
Most voted parties or coalitions in each Municipality.
Municipalities won by:
■ - PS: 60
■ - AD: 73
■ - APU: 50
■ - PSD: 101
■ - CDS: 20
■ - PPM: 1
 Summary of the 16 December 1979 Municipal Councils elections results
Parties Votes % Candidacies Councillors Mayors
# ± # ±
Socialist 1,258,966 28.33 297 516 175 60 55
Democratic Alliance 1,044,642 23.51 138 426 — 73 —
United People Alliance[A] 885,899 19.94 295 316 48 50 13
Social Democratic 723,953 16.29 156 475 149 101 14
Democratic and Social Centre 334,258 7.52 102 156 161 20 16
People's Democratic Union 53,076 1.19 95 3 — 0 —
Portuguese Workers' Communist 19,508 0.44 63 0 0 0 0
Christian Democratic 6,631 0.15 9 2 — 0 —
People's Monarchist 6,219 0.14 3 6 3 1 0
UEDS 1,882 0.04 7 0 — 0 —
Workers Party of Socialist Unity 273 0.01 2 0 — 0 —
Total valid 4,271,897 97.56 — 1,900 8 305 1
Blank ballots 44,6931.01
Invalid ballots 63,6791.43
Total 4,380,269 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 6,105,65171.74
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

National summary of votes and seats
 Summary of the 16 December 1979 Municipal Assemblies elections results
Parties Votes % Candidacies Mandates
# ±
Socialist 1,245,306 27.86 2,686 988
Democratic Alliance 1,056,656 23.64 2,122 —
United People Alliance[A] 916,990 20.51 1,746 1,067
Social Democratic 747,911 16.73 2,230 572
Democratic and Social Centre 308,721 6.91 832 221
People's Democratic Union 55,794 1.25 58 —
Portuguese Workers' Communist 10,783 0.24 0 0
People's Monarchist 5,578 0.12 26 24
UEDS 596 0.01 3 —
Christian Democratic 417 0.00 0 0
Total valid 4,266,013 97.28 — 9,703 4,568
Blank ballots 59,5641.33
Invalid ballots 62,2411.39
Total 4,387,818 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 6,105,64771.86
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

National summary of votes and seats
 Summary of the 16 December 1979 Parish Assemblies elections results
Parties Votes % Candidacies Mandates Presidents
# ± # ±
Socialist 1,219,298 27.77 10,613 2,268
Democratic Alliance 1,000,702 22.79 9,785 — —
United People Alliance[A] 898,670 20.47 4,732 2,441
Social Democratic 736,954 16.78 9,447 371
Democratic and Social Centre 306,332 6.98 4,661 416
Independents 49,207 1.12 707 523
People's Democratic Union 41,414 0.94 55 — —
Portuguese Workers' Communist 6,010 0.14 3 1
People's Monarchist 5,006 0.12 78 66
Christian Democratic 2,594 0.06 26 — —
Workers Party of Socialist Unity 695 0.02 1 — —
UEDS 600 0.01 2 — —
Total valid 4,141,981 97.19 — 40,110 — ' —
Blank ballots 54,7041.25
Invalid ballots 68,5021.56
Total 4,265,187 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 6,031,26670.72
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

Maps
  • The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Councils in each district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)
  • The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Assemblies in seach district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)
  • The first and the second most voted parties in Parish Assemblies in seach district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

Notes

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

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.
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