The president of the Liberal Initiative (IL), Rui Rocha, took to social media on Saturday to address the issue of “wasted” votes in the last legislative elections.
“Approximately 1.2 million votes, representing 20.4% of the total, were ‘wasted’ in the last legislative elections and did not result in the election of any deputy,” he began writing on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
“The interior regions are particularly disadvantaged, and IL has been combating this injustice with a proposal for electoral reform that includes the introduction of a compensation circle, which has constantly faced resistance from PSD and PS, who prefer to keep everything unchanged,” he concluded.
Televised debates between the parties are currently halfway through, with the next opportunity for the IL leader to have a face-to-face confrontation scheduled for Thursday, the 24th. This will also mark the final televised debate, featuring the leader of the Left Bloc, Mariana Mortágua.
Approximately 1.2 million votes, representing 20.4% of the total, were “wasted” in the last legislative elections and did not elect any deputy.
The interior regions are particularly disadvantaged, and IL has been combating this injustice with the proposal for electoral reform…
— Rui Rocha (@ruirochaliberal) April 19, 2025
A study released on Saturday indicates that around 1.2 million votes in the last legislative elections were “wasted” and did not elect any deputy, accounting for 20.4% of the total, with interior regions being particularly affected.
The study was conducted by mathematician Henrique Oliveira from the Instituto Superior Técnico. It serves as an update to an earlier study related to the legislative elections of 2024, with subsequent inclusion of votes from the overseas electoral constituencies of Europe and Outside Europe.
