“I think it was a positive campaign, from my point of view. I believe all parties did that, and I think it is healthy for democracy and autonomy,” stated after voting at around 1 p.m. at a voting section set up in Escola Básica da Ajuda in the São Martinho parish, one of the ten that make up the municipality of Funchal.
The social democrat, who leads the PSD/CDS-PP regional coalition government, described the electoral campaign as “well-conducted” in the region, emphasizing that “there was no polarization, no radicalization of discourse among the majority of the parties.”
“Everything is going well, there are no incidents, no problems. In fact, it is a sign of democratic maturity,” he said.
Miguel Albuquerque, also the leader of the regional PSD structure, highlighted voter participation, noting that despite an “excess of elections” in the past two years, voter turnout started to increase from lunchtime.
“In the morning, it was weak. At this moment, the weather is wonderful in Madeira, so it’s understandable that people are voting now at lunchtime and more later in the afternoon,” he said.
Albuquerque indicated that he would spend the afternoon with his family and be at the PSD headquarters in the center of Funchal from 6 p.m.
More than 9.3 million voters are eligible to vote in these local elections, according to census data provided by the Secretaria-Geral do Ministério da Administração Interna (MAI).
Of the 9,303,840 registered voters, 9,262,722 are nationals, while 18,319 are foreign voters from the European Union (EU) and 22,799 are foreigners from outside the EU, all registered in the national territory.
Voters will choose the governing bodies of the 308 Municipal Chambers, 308 Municipal Assemblies, and 3,221 Parish Assemblies, with three ballots available.
In total, 1,584 lists from parties, coalitions, and citizen groups are candidates for the Municipal Chambers, 1,519 for the Municipal Assemblies, and 9,764 lists for the Parish Assemblies, according to the most updated data extracted from the Secretaria-Geral do MAI lists.
