1953 Portuguese legislative election

1953 Portuguese legislative election

←  1949 8 November 1953 1957  →
All 120 seats in the National Assembly 61 seats needed for a majority
First party   Leader António de Oliveira Salazar Party UN Seats won 120
Prime Minister before election António de Oliveira Salazar UN Prime Minister after election António de Oliveira Salazar UN

Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal on 8 November 1953. ^[1] The ruling National Union won all 120 seats. ^[2]

Electoral system

The elections were held using 21 multi-member constituencies and one single-member constituency covering the Azores, together electing a total of 120 members, 13 of which were from Portuguese colonies. ^[3]

Voters could delete names from the lists of candidates, but could not replace them. ^[3] Suffrage was given to all men aged 21 or over as long as they were literate or paid over 100 escudos in taxation, and to women aged over 21 if they had completed secondary education, or if they were the head of a household and met the same literacy and tax criteria as men. ^[3]

Campaign

The opposition to the Estado Novo, consisting of anti-communist liberals, republicans and intellectuals, presented three lists with a total of 28 candidates in Lisbon, Porto and Aveiro. ^[2] The elections were boycotted by the National Democratic Movement and the Youth Movement for Democratic Union in protest at a lack of freedom, whilst monarchists boycotted the elections except in cases where a National Union candidate was a known royalist. ^[2]

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	National Union			120
	Opposition lists			0
Total				120
Total votes		845,281	–
Registered voters/turnout		1,239,504	68.20
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1542 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
2. "Elections In Portugal Opposition Candidates Defeated" The Times, 9 November 1953, p7, Issue 52774
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p1535

See also

• Politics of Portugal
• List of political parties in Portugal
• Elections in Portugal