1976 Portuguese presidential election

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1976 Portuguese presidential election
Flag of Portugal (official).svg
←  1972 27 June 1976 1980  →
Turnout75.47%
 
Ramalho Eanes, North Portico, 1983.jpg
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho1976.jpg
Candidate António Ramalho Eanes Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho
Party Independent
Supported by:
 Independent
Supported by:
Popular vote2,967,137792,760
Percentage61.59%16.46%
 
IND
Octavio Pato.png
Candidate José Pinheiro de Azevedo Octávio Pato
Party Independent PCP
Popular vote692,147365,586
Percentage14.37%7.59%
1976 Portuguese presidential election results.svg
1976 Portuguese presidential election results by municipality.svg
President before election

Francisco da Costa Gomes
Independent

Elected President

António Ramalho Eanes
Independent

Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 27 June 1976.

Contents

With a broad base of support that comprised the center-left and the center-right, Ramalho Eanes won the election on the first round and became the first elected President of Portugal after the Carnation Revolution.

The Portuguese Communist Party presented its own candidate, Octávio Pato, a well known anti-fascist. Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, a key figure during the Carnation Revolution in 1974, was also a candidate.

Electoral system

Any Portuguese citizen over 35 years old has the opportunity to run for president. In order to do so it was necessary to gather between 7500 and 15000 signatures and submit them to the Supreme Court of Justice. [1]

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. [2]

Candidates

Official candidates

Unsuccessful candidacies

There was also one candidate rejected by the Portuguese Constitutional Court for not complying with the legal requirements:

Campaign period

Party slogans

CandidateOriginal sloganEnglish translationRefs
António Ramalho Eanes « Muitos prometem... Eanes cumpre »
« Candidato de Portugal »		"Many promise ... Eanes delivers"
"Portugal's Candidate"		 [3]
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho « O 25 de Abril à Presidência »"April 25 to the Presidency" [3]
José Pinheiro de Azevedo « Vota Pinheiro de Azevedo »"Vote Pinheiro de Azevedo" [3]
Octávio Pato « Pela democracia e o socialismo »"For democracy and socialism" [3]

Candidates' debates

1976 Portuguese presidential election debates
DateOrganisersModerator(s)   P Present   A Absent invitee N Non-invitee 
EanesOteloAzevedoPatoRefs
9 Jun 1976 RTP1 Joaquim Letria PPPP [4] [5] [6]

Opinion polls

Polling firmDate conductedSample
size		 Eanes Otelo Azevedo Pato OthersLead
Election results26 Jun 1976—61.616.514.47.6
—
45.1
Expresso [a] 9 Jun 1976—53.217.722.64.81.730.6

Results

National summary

CandidatePartyVotes%
António Ramalho Eanes Independent supported by the PS, PPD, CDS and the PCTP 2,967,13761.59
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho Independent supported by the UDP, MES, FSP and the PRP-BR 792,76016.46
José Pinheiro de Azevedo Independent692,14714.37
Octávio Pato PCP 365,5867.59
Total4,817,630100.00
Valid votes4,817,63098.70
Invalid votes20,2530.41
Blank votes43,2420.89
Total votes4,881,125100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,467,48075.47
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Results by district

District Eanes Otelo Azevedo Pato Turnout
Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%
  Aveiro 217,58974.47%20,6346.97%46,34615.86%7,8662.69%77.38%
  Azores 30,64686.06%9,5109.01%17,07616.18%2,5622.43%71.13%
  Beja 36,21934.59%34,33932.80%7,2966.97%26,84425.64%74.37%
  Braga 218,45970.20%25,0898.06%59,09318.99%8,5502.75%82.34%
  Bragança 67,59382.59%2,7253.33%9,35711.43%2,1672.65%68.71%
  Castelo Branco 98,82876.25%14,39311.33%10,9278.61%4,8333.81%73.66%
  Coimbra 147,90671.93%19,8019.63%29,03814.12%8,8874.32%67.51%
  Évora 39,84736.03%38,50934.82%10,5009.50%21,72619.65%81.28%
  Faro 87,59052.88%41,01824.76%24,33114.69%12,6987.67%70.81%
  Guarda 88,45182.87%4,5284.24%11,19410.49%2,5582.40%72.64%
  Leiria 156,40476.63%18,6829.15%20,1099.85%8,9154.37%73.26%
  Lisbon 582,10353.55%259,91523.91%132,60012.20%112,39510.34%75.93%
  Madeira 76,41772.39%9,5109.01%17,07616.18%2,5622.43%74.81%
  Portalegre 47,66556.12%14,12216.63%10,89312.82%12,25814.43%78.24%
  Porto 450,23660.43%86,35611.59%169,94022.81%38,5485.17%80.76%
  Santarém 141,39758.68%48,37020.07%31,56413.10%19,6348.15%73.53%
  Setúbal 96,73929.87%135,49541.83%31,1669.62%60,51918.68%77.78%
  Viana do Castelo 87,13674.64%8,0756.92%17,17414.71%4,3623.74%72.36%
  Vila Real 91,26181.59%4,5524.07%12,60411.27%3,4333.07%67.59%
  Viseu 155,52081.19%7,4473.90%25,07113.09%3,4901.82%69.81%
Source: SGMAI Presidential Election Results

Maps

Notes

  1. ↑ Results presented here exclude undecideds (27%), did not respond (10%) and vote none (1%). With their inclusion results are: António Ramalho Eanes: 33%; Pinheiro de Azevedo: 14%; Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho: 11%; Octávio Pato: 3%; Venceslau Pompílio da Cruz: 1%.

References

  1. ↑ ""Quadro cronológico das operações eleitorais"" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições (in Portuguese). 3 May 1976. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  2. ↑ ""Decreto-Lei n.º 319-A/76, de 3 de maio"". Diário da República (in Portuguese). 3 May 1976. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Confronto: 4 Candidatos para Belém – Parte I". RTP (in Portuguese). 9 June 1976. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. ↑ "Confronto: 4 Candidatos para Belém – Parte II". RTP (in Portuguese). 9 June 1976. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  6. ↑ "Confronto: 4 Candidatos para Belém – Parte III". RTP (in Portuguese). 9 June 1976. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
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