1973 Portuguese legislative election

Portuguese National Assembly election, 1973

28 October 1973
All 150 seats to the National Assembly, elected by plurality-at-large voting 75 seats needed for a majority
First party   Leader Marcelo Caetano Party ANP Last election 130 seats Seats won 150 Seat change 20 Popular vote 1,393,294 Percentage 100.0% Swing 12.0%
Prime Minister before election Marcelo Caetano ANP Prime Minister-elect Marcelo Caetano ANP

Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal on 28 October 1973, the last under the Estado Novo regime. After the only opposition party withdrew from the election, the People's National Action was the only list to contest the election, winning all 150 seats.

Electoral system

The electoral system, constitutionally amended in 1971, maintained the National Assembly to be elected through plurality voting with semi-open party list in 22 constituencies, with all seats of a constituency going to a sole victor. Voters were formally allowed to strike out individual names. The Chamber of Corporations, consisting of 200 members or more, was appointed by the government following its re-endorsement by the new National Assembly, the last to be before the Carnation Revolution next year.

All natural-born nationals residing in Portugal for the past five years were allowed to stand for election, with all mature, literate citizens officially enlisted for the process. An additional 962,854 overseas citizens participated in an election to the National Assembly for the first time. Some scarcely populated remote countryside regions in the Portuguese overseas territories of Angola and Mozambique were infiltrated by pro-independence guerrillas. Most of Portuguese Guinea was under the control or heavy influence of the guerrillas at the time.

Campaign

Campaigning began on 28 September under the supervision of the regime, while illegal rallies began as early as April. The governing People's National Action, constituted in 1970 from the former National Union, held its first and only congress in May. Supervised by Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano, who was considered a moderate reformist who unsuccessfully struggled to hold on to Salazar's authoritarian powers.

Following the premature withdrawal of the Democratic Electoral Commission from the race on 25 October, due to complaints about its democratic legitimacy, the eligibility and rights of its 66 candidates was revoked for five years.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats
National Union			150
Invalid/blank votes		–	–
Total	1,393,294	100	150
Registered voters/turnout	2,096,020	66.4	–
Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union

See also

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