The issue involved an alleged breach of ballot boxes at polling stations 2, 5, and 11 in the União de Freguesias das Caldas da Rainha – Nossa Senhora do Pópulo, Coto e São Gregório, in the district of Leiria.
In the recently released decision, the Constitutional Court claims that “potential irregularities occurring during electoral acts” can only be evaluated by this court if they have been “subject to a complaint or protest presented at the act where they occur,” which did not happen at any of the polling stations.
With the voting having been validated by the General Tabulation Assembly, which considered there to be “no indications, even slight, of vote adulteration,” the judges of the Constitutional Court decided there was “no sufficient basis for declaring the voting void.”
“Votes are only judged null when illegalities have occurred that could influence the overall result of the election of the respective municipal bodies,” the Constitutional Court notes, deeming such circumstances unverifiable in this case.
In the appeal filed by the representative of the Aliança Democrática (AD) coalition, formed by PSD and CDS-PP, it was alleged that the ballot boxes of the three polling stations “were opened by the respective table members, breaking the seals/control tapes sealing them, under the alleged pretext that it was necessary to compress the ballots inside so that the ballots of voters who were still going to vote would fit.”
Additionally, it was mentioned, in polling station 5, “considering that the free space inside the ballot box would not be enough to accommodate all the ballots of the foreseeable voters who would still turn out to vote, around 5:30 PM, a table member fetched a new ballot box, which started to be used without having been previously sealed,” nor “demonstrated to everyone in the room that there was nothing inside it.”
The situation was reported on election day, October 12, to the PSP by the candidate for Câmara das Caldas da Rainha from the Alternativa Democrática Nacional.
The AD candidacy also filed a complaint with the National Election Commission (CNE).
The independent movement ‘Vamos Mudar’, led by Vítor Marques, won the election by a margin of 140 votes over the second most-voted force, AD, which presented deputy Hugo Oliveira as the top candidate.
The General Tabulation Assembly, held between the 14th and 16th, confirmed the results, increasing the independent movement’s lead by two votes.
During the assembly, the AD representative lodged several protests regarding irregularities in the electoral process, including the non-posting of notices at the entrance of some polling sections, discrepancies between the number of ballots and registered voters, campaign material near a voting location, and the prevention of a scrutinizer from filing a protest concerning the opening of the ballot boxes.
In the appeal, AD also argued that the notice with the validation of the results by the General Tabulation Assembly was published inside the Câmara’s lobby before the respective minutes were signed, leading the presiding judge of the assembly to annul the publication and determine that it would only take effect after the minutes were drawn up. A new notice was published on Monday.
The General Tabulation Assembly, after recounting the ballots, validated the results that increased the winning list’s advantage from 140 to 142 votes, maintaining the distribution of mandates determined on the 12th: three for ‘Vamos Mudar’, three for AD, and one for Chega.
