1979 Portuguese local elections

Local elections were held in Portugal on 16 December 1979. They were the 2nd local elections in Portugal since the democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power. The elections took place just two weeks after the 1979 legislative election.

1979 Portuguese local elections

← 1976 16 December 1979 1982 →
All 305 Portuguese municipalities and 4,260 Portuguese Parishes All 1,900 local government councils
Turnout	71.7% 7.0 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Francisco Sá Carneiro Mário Soares Álvaro Cunhal Party PSD PS PCP Alliance AD APU Last election 152 mayors, 41.1% 115 mayors, 33.0% 37 mayors, 17.3% Popular vote 2,109,072[1] 1,258,966 885,899 Percentage 47.5% 28.3% 19.9% Swing 6.4 pp 4.7 pp 2.6 pp Mayors 195[2] 60 50 Mayors +/– 43 55 13 Councillors 1,063[3] 516 316 Councillors +/– 119 175 48

The elections consisted of three separate elections in the 305 Portuguese municipalities, the election for the Municipal Chambers, 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

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

Turnout in these elections increased compared with the 1976 election, as 71.7 percent of the electorate cast a ballot, the highest turnout recorded in a nationwide local election.

Electoral system

All 305 municipalities are allocated a certain number of councilors to elect corresponding to the number of registered voters in a given municipality. Each party or coalition must present a list of candidates. The winner of the most voted list for the municipal council is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP). The lists are closed and the seats in each municipality are apportioned according to the D'Hondt method.^[4]

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)

Results

Municipal Councils

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 16 December 1979 Municipal Councils elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Candidacies	Councillors		Mayors
						Total	±	Total	±
	Socialist	1,258,966	28.33	4.7	297	516	175	60	55
	Democratic Alliance	1,044,642	23.51	—	138	426	—	73	—
	United People Alliance[A]	885,899	19.94	2.6	295	316	48	50	13
	Social Democratic	723,953	16.29	8.0	156	475	149	101	14
	Democratic and Social Centre	334,258	7.52	9.1	102	156	161	20	16
	People's Democratic Union	53,076	1.19	—	95	3	—	0	—
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	19,508	0.44	0.2	63	0	0	0	0
	Christian Democratic	6,631	0.15	—	9	2	—	0	—
	People's Monarchist	6,219	0.14	0.1	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	97.56	1.8	—	1,900	8	305	1
Blank ballots		44,693	1.01	1.1
Invalid ballots		63,679	1.43	0.7
Total		4,380,269	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,105,651	71.74	7.1
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

Municipality map

Most voted parties or coalitions in each Municipality.
Municipalities won by:
■ - PS: 60
■ - AD: 73
■ - APU: 50
■ - PSD: 101
■ - CDS: 20
■ - PPM: 1

City control

The following table lists party control in all district capitals, highlighted in bold, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from the 1970 Census.^[5]

Municipality	Population	Previous control		New control
Almada	107,575		United People Alliance (APU)		United People Alliance (APU)
Amadora	111,929	Municipality created			United People Alliance (APU)
Aveiro	49,808		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Beja	36,384		United People Alliance (APU)		United People Alliance (APU)
Braga	96,918		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Bragança	33,070		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Cascais	92,907		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Castelo Branco	55,195		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Coimbra	110,553		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Évora	47,244		United People Alliance (APU)		United People Alliance (APU)
Faro	30,973		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Funchal	101,810		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Gondomar	105,075		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Guarda	39,741		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Guimarães	122,719		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Leiria	80,241		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Lisbon	769,044		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Loures	166,167		Socialist Party (PS)		United People Alliance (APU)
Matosinhos	109,225		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Oeiras	180,194		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Ponta Delgada	67,975		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Portalegre	25,800		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Porto	301,655		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Santarém	56,440		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Setúbal	65,230		Socialist Party (PS)		United People Alliance (APU)
Sintra	124,893		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Viana do Castelo	70,455		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Vila Nova de Gaia	180,875		Socialist Party (PS)		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Vila Real	44,550		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Viseu	73,010		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)

Municipal Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 16 December 1979 Municipal Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Candidacies	Mandates
						Total	±
	Socialist	1,245,306	27.86	5.5		2,686	988
	Democratic Alliance	1,056,656	23.64	—		2,122	—
	United People Alliance[A]	916,990	20.51	2.4		1,746	1,067
	Social Democratic	747,911	16.73	7.8		2,230	572
	Democratic and Social Centre	308,721	6.91	9.5		832	221
	People's Democratic Union	55,794	1.25	—		58	—
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	10,783	0.24	0.1		0	0
	People's Monarchist	5,578	0.12	0.0		26	24
	UEDS	596	0.01	—		3	—
	Christian Democratic	417	0.00	0.0		0	0
Total valid		4,266,013	97.28	2.1	—	9,703	4,568
Blank ballots		59,564	1.33	1.2
Invalid ballots		62,241	1.39	0.9
Total		4,387,818	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,105,647	71.86	7.3
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

Parish Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 16 December 1979 Parish Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Candidacies	Mandates		Presidents
						Total	±	Total	±
	Socialist	1,219,298	27.77	4.9		10,613	2,268
	Democratic Alliance	1,000,702	22.79	—		9,785	—		—
	United People Alliance[A]	898,670	20.47	5.1		4,732	2,441
	Social Democratic	736,954	16.78	7.6		9,447	371
	Democratic and Social Centre	306,332	6.98	8.1		4,661	416
	Independents	49,207	1.12	2.9		707	523
	People's Democratic Union	41,414	0.94	—		55	—		—
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	6,010	0.14	0.2		3	1
	People's Monarchist	5,006	0.12	0.1		78	66
	Christian Democratic	2,594	0.06	—		26	—		—
	Workers Party of Socialist Unity	695	0.02	—		1	—		—
	UEDS	600	0.01	—		2	—		—
Total valid		4,141,981	97.19	1.6	—	40,110	—		—
Blank ballots		54,704	1.25	0.9
Invalid ballots		68,502	1.56	0.7
Total		4,265,187	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,031,266	70.72	5.1
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

Maps

• 
  The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Councils in each district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)
• 
  The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Assemblies in each district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)
• 
  The first and the second most voted parties in Parish Assemblies in each district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

Notes

• The source of the voting data is the Portuguese Electoral Commission Archived 2020-08-28 at the Wayback Machine

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.

See also

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