In remarks to journalists after voting at the Telheiras Basic School in Lisbon, Inês de Sousa Real encouraged citizens to vote so that Portuguese people can “choose the alternatives they want” and ensure a “new political cycle, with stability and the guarantee” that the country progresses “in favor of the concerns of the Portuguese citizens.”
The leader of the PAN highlighted the importance of combating voter abstention and ensuring there are no issues in these elections “as there were in previous years” with the counting of votes from the European and non-European constituencies.
Sousa Real urged voters to “leave their homes,” warning that “nobody will decide for them” and emphasizing that “this is a unique opportunity to give more voice to what they believe.”
“We know we already have three very short electoral cycles that did not fulfill their entire mandate, and even so, people should not give up participating; quite the opposite, democracy counts on each and every one of us,” she added.
Asked about her plans for the day, Inês de Sousa Real stated she would spend time with her family and “catch up with her parents” after two weeks of campaigning, before joining her party colleagues for the election night.
The Secretariat-General of the Ministry of Internal Administration (SGMAI) reports that 10.8 million voters are eligible to participate in these elections.
A total of 230 deputies will be elected across 22 electoral constituencies, 18 of which are in mainland Portugal, with the others in the Azores, Madeira, Europe, and outside Europe.
The overall cost of the election is estimated to be about 26.5 million euros.
There are 21 political forces running in these elections, three more than in the elections of March last year.
