1991 Portuguese presidential election
13 January 1991
Turnout62.2% Decrease 15.8 pp
 
Mário Soares par Claude Truong-Ngoc 1978.png
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 70.4% 14.2% 12.9%
President before election

Mário Soares
PS

 Elected President

Mário Soares
PS

The 1991 Portuguese presidential election was held on 13 January.

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.

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

Decided not to run

Campaign period

Party slogans

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

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

  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

National summary

Summary of the 13 January 1991 Portuguese presidential election results
Candidates Supporting parties First round
Votes %
Mário Soares Socialist Party (and tacitly by the Social Democratic Party) 3,459,521 70.35
Basílio Horta Democratic and Social Centre 696,379 14.16
Carlos Carvalhas Portuguese Communist Party, Ecologist Party "The Greens" 635,373 12.92
Carlos Manuel Marques People's Democratic Union 126,581 2.57
Total valid 4,917,854 100.00
Blank ballots 112,877 2.21
Invalid ballots 68,037 1.33
Total 5,098,768
Registered voters/turnout 8,202,21262.16
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições
Vote share 1st Round
Mário Soares
 
 70.35%
Basílio Horta
 
 14.16%
Carlos Carvalhas
 
 12.92%
Carlos Manuel Marques
 
 2.57%
Blank/Invalid
 
 3.54%

Results by district

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

References

  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".

See also

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