HOW TO VOTE in Portugal

The European elections will take part in Portugal on 26 May 2019. Anyone aged 18 or over can cast a vote. It’s also possible to vote abroad if certain conditions are met.

The elections will be held on 26 May of 2019.

Voters in Portugal have to vote in a specific polling station based on their home address.

To find out your polling station, you can check this website, send a free text message to 3838, with the following message “RE (space) CC or ID number (space) birth date =yearmmdd”.

Ex: "RE 1234567 19820803", or check the relevant public notice at your parish council (Junta de Freguesia).

In Portugal, you have to be at least 18 years old to vote in the European elections.

You do not need to register, as this is done automatically by the authorities. However, if you have changed your home address recently, we advise you to check this website whether your address is up to date.

An identification document (citizen card or identity card) or any other official document with an updated picture (passport or driving license).

No. This possibility does not exist in Portugal.

Voters registered in Portugal can vote in advance in mobility.

For more information, check this website from the Comissão Nacional de Eleições (National Committee for Elections) and from the Secretaria-Geral do Ministério da Administração Interna (Secretariat-General of the Ministry of Home Affairs).

Patients admitted to hospitals and inmates may vote in advance.

Check this website from the Comissão Nacional de Eleições (National Committee for Elections) and from the Secretaria-Geral do Ministério da Administração Interna (Secretariat-General of the Ministry of Home Affairs) here and here.

Advance voting is allowed in specific cases for people living temporarily abroad who cannot go to their polling station in Portugal.

This is not possible in Portugal.

Yes you can, but you have to register to vote at your local parish council (Junta de Freguesia) by 26 March 2019 at the very latest.

You do not need to register yourself, as all Portuguese citizens aged 17 years old or over, regardless of residing in Portugal or abroad, are automatically registered, as long as they hold a national citizen card.

Voters will elect 21 Parliament members in 2019, same figure as in the 2014 elections.

In Portugal, there is just one national constituency, which means people across the country choose from the same lists of candidates.

According to Portuguese law, there are no threshold provisions.

Under EU law, all countries must use voting systems that ensure proportional representation, which means that the number of elected members from each party depends on the share of electoral votes obtained by the party.

Portugal uses closed lists, which does not allow voters to change the order of candidates on the list.

Political parties wishing to stand for the European elections should register their candidates’ lists at the Constitutional Court until 41 days before election day.

Those lists are published outdoors at the Constitutional Court and town halls, and on election day are published outside and inside the polling stations.

Anyone who is blind will have the possibility to vote autonomously with the support of a braille ballot paper, available at the polling station.

How can I vote in other countries?

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