Portuguese local election, 1976

Portugal

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Portugal

The Portuguese local election of 1976 took place on 12 December. This was the first local election in Portugal. The democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power, that should be exerted by the citizens in their towns and cities.

The election was meant to elect for the first time the administration of the about 300 municipalities of the country and of the about 4000 parishes that composed those 300 municipalities. So, the election consisted in 3 elections in each of the municipalities. The election for the municipal chamber, the election for the municipal assembly and the lower-level election for the parish assembly.

Parties

The main political forces involved in the election:

• Democratic and Social Center (CDS)
• Electoral Front United People (FEPU)
• Groups for the Dinamization of the People's Unity (GDUPs)
• Socialist Party (PS)
• Social Democratic Party (PSD)

The Socialist Party gathered the majority of the voting and mandates, beating the Social Democratic Party and the communist dominated coalition, the Electoral Front United People, however this last dominated the election in the South of the country. The right-wing Democratic Social Center achieved its best result ever in local elections.

National summary of votes and seats

Municipal Councils

The first and the second most voted parties in each district (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

 Summary of the 12 December 1976 Municipal Councils elections results

Parties		Votes	%	Candidacies	Councillors	Mayors
					#	#
	PS	1,377,684	33.01		691	115
	PSD	1,014,092	24.30		624	115
	Electoral Front United People	720,499	17.26		268	37
	Democratic and Social Centre	693,766	16.62		317	36
	GDUPs	103,784	2.49		5	0
	Workers' Communist Party	27,505	0.59		0	0
	Communist Party of Portugal (Marxist–Leninist)	15,267	0.37		0	0
	People's Monarchist Party	7,528	0.18		3	1
	Internationalist Communist League	3,464	0.08		0	0
	Workers' Revolutionary Party	273	0.00		0	0
	United People Alliance	123	0.00		0	0
Total valid		3,995,905	96.40	—	1,908	304
Blank ballots		89,073	2.13
Invalid ballots		88,783	2.13
Total (turnout 64.66%)		4,173,761	100.00

Municipal Assemblies

The first and the second most voted parties in each district (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

 Summary of the 12 December 1976 Municipal Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	Candidacies	Mandates
					#
	PS	1,392,181	33.39		1,698
	PSD	1,022,168	24.52		1,658
	Electoral Front United People	756,856	18.15		679
	Democratic and Social Centre	685,574	16.44		1,053
	GDUPs	100,872	2.42		43
	Communist Party of Portugal (Marxist–Leninist)	5,363	0.13		2
	Workers' Communist Party	5,214	0.13		0
	People's Monarchist Party	3,695	0.09		2
	Workers' Revolutionary Party	2,634	0.06		0
	Christian Democratic Party	970	0.02		0
Total valid		3,975,596	95.36	—	5,135
Blank ballots		104,185	2.50
Invalid ballots		89,241	2.26
Total (turnout 64.60%)		4,169,022	100.00

Parish Assemblies

The first and the second most voted parties in each district (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

 Summary of the 12 December 1976 Parish Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	Candidacies	Mandates	Presidents
					#	#
	PS	1,339,460	32.69		8,345
	PSD	996,972	24.33		9,076
	Electoral Front United People	629,812	15.37		2,291
	Democratic and Social Centre	617,690	15.07		5,077
	Independents	162,367	3.96		1,230
	GDUPs	93,967	2.29		99
	Workers' Communist Party	13,721	0.33		2
	People's Monarchist Party	1,788	0.04		12
	Communist Party of Portugal (Marxist–Leninist)	1,666	0.04		3
	Internationalist Communist League	71	0.00		0
Total valid		3,915,120	95.55	—	26,135	'
Blank ballots		88,985	2.17
Invalid ballots		93,461	2.28
Total (turnout 65.60%)		4,097,566	100.00

End notes

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

Further Notes:

• Electoral Front United People (FEPU) was composed by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE) and the People's Socialist Front (FSP).
• 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.

References

• "CNE Resultados". Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 17 January 2006.
• "Centro de Estudos do Pensamento Político". Retrieved 17 January 2006.