2031 Portuguese presidential election

2031 Portuguese presidential election
January 2031
Incumbent President

António José Seguro
PS



Presidential elections will be held in Portugal in January 2031. The incumbent President António José Seguro, supported by the Socialist Party (PS), is eligible for a second term.

Background

António José Seguro was elected in the second round with 66.8% of the votes, after defeating André Ventura who received only 33.2%.[1] He was sworn into office on 9 March 2026 and since then has been in cohabitation with Social Democratic Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.[2]

Within the Portuguese political system, the president serves as the head of state with primarily ceremonial duties, though the president holds some political influence and can dissolve Parliament during a crisis. The president resides at the Belém Palace in Lisbon. Since the Carnation Revolution, all Portuguese presidents have been re-elected for a second term and never tried a third, with one exception: Mário Soares (PS), who sought a non-consecutive third term in the 2006 presidential election but lost. Thus, every president since 1976 has served exactly two terms.

Electoral system

To stand for election, candidates must be of Portuguese origin and over 35 years old, gather 7,500 signatures of support one month before the election, and submit them to the Constitutional Court of Portugal. Then, the Constitutional Court has to certify if the candidacies submitted meet the requirements to appear on the ballot.[3] A candidate must receive a majority of votes (50% plus one vote) to be elected. If no candidate achieves a majority in the first round, a runoff election (i.e., second round, held between the two candidates who receive the most votes in the first round) has to be held.[3] The highest number of candidacies ever accepted was eleven, in 2026. Since the Carnation Revolution, there have only been two runoff elections, in the 1986 presidential election, when Diogo Freitas do Amaral (46.3% of votes in the first round and 48.8% in the second) lost to Mário Soares (25.4% in the first round and 51.2% in the second), and in the 2026 presidential election, when António José Seguro (31.1% of the votes in the first round and 66.8% in the second) won against André Ventura (23.5% in the first round and 33.2% in the second).

Candidates

Potential

See also

References

  1. ^ Santa-Bárbara, Filipe (9 February 2026). "Portugal escolhe Seguro com recorde absoluto de votos". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  2. ^ "Coabitação entre Governo e Seguro começa com divergência na política externa". Expresso (in Portuguese). 12 March 2026. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b "Presidente da República". Diário da República. Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  4. ^ Lusa, Agência. "Seguro confia "no bom senso dos portugueses": "Não vou parar até o dia... 8 de março de 2031"". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  5. ^ "Gouveia e Melo pondera candidatura em 2031: «É a assunção de uma possível derrota»". www.nowcanal.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  6. ^ "Cotrim Figueiredo lança "movimento cívico-político" para dar expressão aos 900 mil votos que teve". Expresso (in Portuguese). 23 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  7. ^ ""É por ser calceteiro? Por ser da aldeia?": Tino de Rans excluído de debates pondera desistir de candidatura a Belém". www.cmjornal.pt (in European Portuguese). 5 November 2025. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
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