Since the revolution of April 25, 1974, Portugal has seen five democratic presidents: António Ramalho Eanes (1976-1986), Mário Soares (1986-1996), Jorge Sampaio (1996-2006), Cavaco Silva (2006-2016), and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (2016-2026).
Since the presidential elections in 1976, voters have collectively cast 49.84 million votes. This total comprises all valid votes, calculated from an update by official election records and data compiled in 2021 by Pordata, of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, and the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration (SGMAI).
The election with the highest number of participating voters occurred in 1986, when Mário Soares defeated Freitas do Amaral, with 5,880,078 votes. This was closely followed by the 1980 elections, where Ramalho Eanes was re-elected against Soares Carneiro, with 5,769,701 votes. This election had the lowest abstention rate of 15.8%.
The election with the least voter turnout, with 4,173,174 participants, was in 2021 for Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s re-election, where he received 52% of votes — the same percentage by which Cavaco Silva was re-elected in 2011.
In terms of candidates reaching the ballots up until the 2021 elections, there were 43 in total, of which only five were women: Maria de Lurdes Pintassilgo, Maria de Belém, Marisa Matias, Ana Gomes, and Catarina Martins.
Listed alphabetically, the candidates were Aires Rodrigues, Ana Gomes, André Ventura, António Abreu, Basílio Horta, Cândido Ferreira, Carlos Carvalhas, Carlos Marques, Cavaco Silva, Defensor Moura, Edgar Silva, Fernando Nobre, Fernando Rosas, Ferreira do Amaral, Francisco Lopes, Francisco Louçã, Freitas do Amaral, Galvão de Melo, Garcia Pereira, Henrique Neto, João Ferreira, Jerónimo de Sousa, Jorge Sampaio, Jorge Sequeira, José Coelho, Manuel Alegre, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Maria de Belém, Mário Soares, Maria de Lourdes Pintassilgo, Marisa Matias, Octávio Pato, Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, Paulo de Morais, Pinheiro de Azevedo, Pires Veloso, Ramalho Eanes, Sampaio da Nóvoa, Salgado Zenha, Soares Carneiro, Tiago Mayan Gonçalves, and Vitorino Silva.
The presidential race of 2016 set the record for the number of candidates, with ten running.
The next presidential elections are scheduled for January 18, 2026, marking the 12th occasion (including both rounds of the 1986 elections) since 1976 during which Portuguese citizens will select a President of the Republic in a democratic process.
