1979 Portuguese local elections

The Portuguese local election of 1979 took place on 16 December. This was the second local election in Portugal since the democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power.

The election consisted of three separate elections in the 305 Portuguese municipalities, the election for the Municipal Chambers, whose winner is elected mayor, another election for the Municipal Assembly and a last one for the lower-level Parish Assembly, whose winner is elected parish president, this last was held separately in the more than 4,000 parishes around the country.

The Socialist Party finished on the top of the results table, however that was because the coalition between the two major right-wing parties, the Democratic and Social Center and the Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Alliance, did not participated in all Municipalities and Parishes, being the parties which composed it, separated in many Municipalities.ng

The left-wing United People Alliance dominated the election in the municipalities of the South of the country, gathering more than 60% of the voting.

Parties

The main political forces involved in the election were:

• Democratic Alliance (AD) (only in some municipalities)
• Democratic and Social Center (CDS) (only in some municipalities)
• Socialist Party (PS)
• Social Democratic Party (PSD) (only in some municipalities)
• United People Alliance (APU)

National summary of votes and seats

Municipal Councils

The first and the second most voted parties in each district (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF66FF;" data-sort-value="Socialist Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #00FFFF;" data-sort-value="Democratic Alliance (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="United People Alliance" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF9900;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0093DD;" data-sort-value="Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #CC0000;" data-sort-value="Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: yellow;" data-sort-value="Christian Democratic Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2A5392;" data-sort-value="People's Monarchist Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: pink;" data-sort-value="Leftwing Union for the Socialist Democracy" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF0000;" data-sort-value="Workers Party of Socialist Unity" |

 Summary of the 16 December 1979 Municipal Councils elections results

Parties		Votes	%	Candidacies	Councillors		Mayors
					#	±	#	±
PS	1,258,966	28.74	297	516	175	60	55
Democratic Alliance	1,044,642	23.85	138	426	—	73	—
United People Alliance[A]	885,899	20.22	295	316	48	50	13
PSD	723,953	16.53	156	475	149	101	14
Democratic and Social Centre	334,258	7.63	102	156	161	20	16
	People's Democratic Union	53,076	1.21	95	3	—	0	—
Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat	19,508	0.45	63	0	0	0	0
Christian Democratic Party	6,631	0.15	9	2	—	0	—
PPM	6,219	0.14	3	6	3	1	0
UEDS	1,882	0.04	7	0	—	0	—
Workers Party of Socialist Unity	273	0.01	2	0	—	0	—
Total valid		4,271,897	97.53	—	1,900	8	305	1
Blank ballots		44,693	1.02
Invalid ballots		63,679	1.45
Total (turnout 71.74%)		4,380,269	100.00
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

Municipal Assemblies

The first and the second most voted parties in each district (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF66FF;" data-sort-value="Socialist Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #00FFFF;" data-sort-value="Democratic Alliance (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="United People Alliance" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF9900;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0093DD;" data-sort-value="Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #CC0000;" data-sort-value="Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2A5392;" data-sort-value="People's Monarchist Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: pink;" data-sort-value="Leftwing Union for the Socialist Democracy" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: yellow;" data-sort-value="Christian Democratic Party (Portugal)" |

 Summary of the 16 December 1979 Municipal Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	Candidacies	Mandates
					#	±
PS	1,245,306	28.38		2,686	988
Democratic Alliance	1,056,656	24.08		2,122	—
United People Alliance[A]	916,990	20.90		1,746	1,067
PSD	747,911	17.05		2,230	572
Democratic and Social Centre	308,721	7.04		832	221
	People's Democratic Union	55,794	1.27		58	—
Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat	10,783	0.25		0	0
PPM	5,578	0.13		26	24
UEDS	596	0.01		3	—
Christian Democratic Party	417	0.00		0	0
Total valid		4,266,013	97.22	—	9,703	4,568
Blank ballots		59,564	1.36
Invalid ballots		62,241	1.42
Total (turnout 71.86%)		4,387,818	100.00
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

Parish Assemblies

The first and the second most voted parties in each district (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF66FF;" data-sort-value="Socialist Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #00FFFF;" data-sort-value="Democratic Alliance (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="United People Alliance" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF9900;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0093DD;" data-sort-value="Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #CC0000;" data-sort-value="Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2A5392;" data-sort-value="People's Monarchist Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: yellow;" data-sort-value="Christian Democratic Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF0000;" data-sort-value="Workers Party of Socialist Unity" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: pink;" data-sort-value="Leftwing Union for the Socialist Democracy" |

 Summary of the 16 December 1979 Parish Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	Candidacies	Mandates		Presidents
					#	±	#	±
PS	1,219,298	28.59		10,613	2,268
Democratic Alliance	1,000,702	23.46		9,785	—		—
United People Alliance[A]	898,670	21.07		4,732	2,441
PSD	736,954	17.28		9,447	371
Democratic and Social Centre	306,332	7.18		4,661	416
	Independents	49,207	1.15		707	523
	People's Democratic Union	41,414	0.97		55	—		—
Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat	6,010	0.14		3	1
PPM	5,006	0.12		78	66
Christian Democratic Party	2,594	0.06		26	—		—
Workers Party of Socialist Unity	695	0.02		1	—		—
UEDS	600	0.01		2	—		—
Total valid		4,141,981	97.11	—	40,110	—	'	—
Blank ballots		54,704	1.28
Invalid ballots		68,502	1.61
Total (turnout 70.72%)		4,265,187	100.00
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

End notes

• The source of the voting data is the Portuguese Electoral Commission

Further Notes:

• Democratic Alliance (AD) was composed by the Democratic Social Center (CDS), the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM).
• Although the PSD, the CDS and the PPM were united in the Democratic Alliance, they appear in the scorecard because they ran separated in several municipalities.
• United People Alliance (APU) was composed by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE).
• The number of candidacies expresses the number of municipalities or parishes in which the party or coalition presented lists.
• The number of mandates expresses the number of municipal deputies in the Municipal Assembly election and the number of parish deputies in the Parish Assembly election.
• The turnout varies because one may choose not to vote for all the organs.

References

• "CNE Resultados". Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 17 January 2006.
• "Centro de Estudos do Pensamento Político". Retrieved 17 January 2006.