1986 Portuguese presidential election
26 January 1986 (1st round)
16 February 1986 (Runoff)
Turnout75.4% (1st round) Decrease 9.0 pp
78.0% (Runoff) Increase 2.6 pp
 
Mário Soares par Claude Truong-Ngoc 1978.png
Freitas do Amaral, XV Cimeira Ibero-Americana - Salamanca, Espanha (cropped).jpg
Candidate Mário Soares Diogo Freitas do Amaral
Party PS CDS
1st round 1,443,683
25.4%		 2,629,597
46.3%
Runoff 3,010,756
51.2%		 2,872,064
48.8%
 
Silo da Memoria 02.JPG
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo (1986) (cropped).jpg
Candidate Salgado Zenha Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
Party PRD Independent
1st round 1,185,867
20.9%		 418,961
7.4%
Runoff Eliminated Eliminated
President before election

António Ramalho Eanes
Independent

 Elected President

Mário Soares
PS

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

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 2021, 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:

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]

Candidates' debates

First 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]

Second 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]

Opinion polls

First round

  Exit poll

Polling firm Date conducted Sample
size
Silo da Memoria 02.JPG
 Others Lead
Freitas
CDS, PSD		 Soares
PS		 Zenha
PRD, PCP		 Pintasilgo
Ind.
Election Results 26 Jan 1986 — 46.3 25.4 20.9 7.4
—
 20.9
RTP 26 Jan 1986 — 43.0–46.0 24.0–27.0 18.0–21.0 9.0–12.0
—
 19.0
Expresso 10 Jan 1986 2,000 42.5 21.5 — — 36.0 21.0
Norma 10–16 May 1985 598 33.4 12.9 — 24.1 29.7 9.3

Second round

  Exit poll

Polling firm Date conducted Sample
size		 Lead
Freitas
CDS, PSD		 Soares
PS
Election Results 16 Feb 1986 — 48.8 51.2 2.4
RTP 16 Feb 1986 — 48.0–50.0 50.0–52.0 2.0
Norma[lower-alpha 1] 10–16 May 1985 598 66.7 33.3 33.4
Norma[lower-alpha 2] Apr 1985 — 50.9 49.1 1.8

Results

National summary

Summary of the 26 January and 16 February 1986 Portuguese presidential election 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 Left the race in favor of Salgado Zenha.
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições (1st Round); Comissão Nacional de Eleições (2nd Round)
Vote share First 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 Second Round
Mário Soares
 
 51.18%
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
 
 48.82%
Blank/Invalid
 
 0.91%

Results by district

First round

District Freitas Soares Zenha Pintasilgo Turnout
Votes  % Votes  % Votes  % Votes  %
  Aveiro 200,008 57.00% 102,684 29.26% 30,868 8.80% 17,345 4.94% 76.06%
  Azores 61,274 58.57% 32,841 26.23% 8,235 6.94% 4,586 3.87% 61.50%
  Beja 22,648 21.30% 19,347 18.19% 58,233 54.76% 6,117 5.75% 71.58%
  Braga 206,747 52.74% 112,263 28.64% 52,751 13.46% 20,218 5.16% 78.95%
  Bragança 60,868 66.02% 22,972 24.92% 6,125 6.64% 2,234 2.42% 66.29%
  Castelo Branco 72,295 53.00% 31,812 23.32% 24,671 18.09% 7,638 5.60% 72.77%
  Coimbra 113,913 46.12% 78,894 32.23% 33,429 13.66% 19,570 7.99% 71.39%
  Évora 31,613 27.71% 15,734 13.79% 60,061 52.65% 6,665 5.84% 78.88%
  Faro 77,570 40.57% 51,410 26.89% 48,564 25.40% 13.644 7.14% 73.25%
  Guarda 71,902 62.94% 29,625 25.93% 9,007 7.88% 3,704 3.24% 69.85%
  Leiria 145,554 60.26% 55,653 23.04% 26,816 11.10% 13,525 5.60% 74.48%
  Lisbon 512,158 39.91% 296,395 23.09% 338,470 26.37% 136,397 10.63% 78.45%
  Madeira 74,688 62.96% 31,123 26.23% 8,235 6.94% 4,586 3.87% 69.34%
  Portalegre 28,961 32.42% 22,024 24.66% 33,137 37.10% 5,196 5.82% 78.05%
  Porto 413,407 45.17% 284,250 31.06% 152,919 16.71% 64,566 7.06% 79.05%
  Santarém 117,657 43.10% 61,661 22.59% 68,133 24.96% 25,522 9.35% 75.99%
  Setúbal 104,122 25.23% 72,116 17.47% 187,907 45.53% 48,600 11.77% 79.07%
  Viana do Castelo 81,815 58.92% 32,869 23.64% 14,702 10.59% 9,506 6.85% 72.01%
  Vila Real 84,459 63.73% 35,050 26.45% 9,362 7.06% 3,655 2.76% 68.59%
  Viseu 147,519 66.20% 54,344 24.39% 14,378 6.45% 6,584 2.95% 70.18%
Source: SGMAI Presidential Election Results

Second round

District Soares Freitas Turnout
Votes  % Votes  %
  Aveiro 152,472 41.21% 217,352 58.79% 79.95%
  Azores 44,464 40.55% 65,177 59.45% 79.95%
  Beja 82,278 75.98% 26,015 24.02% 72.76%
  Braga 190,746 46.42% 220,150 53.58% 82.77%
  Bragança 32,196 32.28% 67,531 67.72% 72.40%
  Castelo Branco 65,986 45.66% 78,534 54.34% 76.37%
  Coimbra 137,735 52.79% 123,192 47.21% 76.01%
  Évora 79,552 69.49% 34,920 30.51% 79.37%
  Faro 113,089 56.81% 85,961 43.19% 75.50%
  Guarda 44,187 36.10% 78,217 63.90% 74.93%
  Leiria 94,791 37.29% 159,401 62.71% 78.16%
  Lisbon 736,144 56.74% 561,189 43.26% 79.26%
  Madeira 47,776 37.31% 80,290 62.69% 74.22%
  Portalegre 59,550 65.25% 31,712 34.75% 79.68%
  Porto 510,335 53.53% 443,050 46.47% 82.24%
  Santarém 153,084 54.33% 128,675 45.67% 77.95%
  Setúbal 289,199 70.88% 118,790 29.12% 78.44%
  Viana do Castelo 56,176 38.41% 90,094 61.59% 75.33%
  Vila Real 49,210 34.72% 92,505 65.28% 73.05%
  Viseu 76,380 32.07% 161,793 67.93% 75.15%
Source: SGMAI Presidential Election Results

Maps

Notes

  1. ↑ Results presented here exclude undecideds (37.0%). With their inclusion results are: Freitas do Amaral: 42.0%; Mário Soares: 21.0%;
  2. ↑ Results presented here exclude undecideds (54.2%). With their inclusion results are: Freitas do Amaral: 23.3%; Mário Soares: 22.5%;

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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