In the decision ERC/2025/301 on the dissemination of an opinion poll on April 28, 2025, on the social media platforms of Chega, concerning the 2025 Legislative Elections, the ERC Regulatory Council concluded that Chega “violated the rules of public disclosure of opinion polls due to the absence of the explicit warning that ‘such results do not scientifically allow generalizations, representing only the opinion of the respondents’ as stated in paragraph 2 of article 8 of the Polling Law.”
Consequently, it determined “the opening of a sanctioning proceeding, as provided in subparagraph f) of paragraph 1 of article 17 of the Polling Law.”
In the decision ERC/2025/292 regarding complaints against the dissemination of opinion polls on May 5 and 6, on Chega’s social media platforms, the regulator’s decision was similar.
“On May 6, 2025, two complaints were filed with the ERC against the Chega party and its president, André Claro Amaral Ventura, for alleged violation of Law no. 10/2000, of June 21 (Polling Law), in the dissemination of an opinion poll regarding voting intentions in the 2025 Legislative Elections,” the regulator states.
The ERC analyzed the dissemination of an opinion poll by Chega — on May 5 and 6 on Facebook, X, Instagram, and Tiktok under the title “Canada Portugal First” — and determined it to be subject to the Polling Law.
Considering that article 24, paragraph 3, subparagraphs c) and z), of the ERC Statutes, grants the Regulatory Council “the authority to ‘oversee compliance with the laws, regulations, and technical requirements applicable within its remit’ and ‘ensure the accuracy and impartiality of polls and opinion surveys,’ regardless of the nature of the entity that conducts, publishes, or disseminates them, the entity deliberated on the matter.
It concluded that Chega “violated the rules of public disclosure of opinion polls due to the absence of the explicit warning that ‘such results do not scientifically allow generalizations, representing only the opinion of the respondents’ as stated in paragraph 2 of article 8 of the Polling Law” and decided to open a sanctioning proceeding.
A third decision — ERC/2025/298 on the dissemination of an opinion poll on May 4 on Chega’s social media platforms — follows the same direction, determining the opening of a sanctioning proceeding.
This is followed by decision ERC/2025/290 on the dissemination of an opinion poll on May 16 on Chega’s social media platforms.
The dissemination of an opinion poll by Chega on Facebook, X, and Instagram on May 16, under the title “Chega wins in practically all ‘online’ polls for the 18th,” was analyzed, and ERC determined it to be subject to the Polling Law.
In this decision as well, the ERC determined the opening of a sanctioning proceeding, similar to decision ERC/2025/297 on the poll conducted by the University of Lisbon/CESOP for RTP in Chega’s social media posts on May 12.
In this decision, the Regulatory Council concluded that, by “distorting the results of the poll conducted by the University of Lisbon/CESOP for RTP,” Chega “violated the rules of public disclosure of polls, disrespecting the provision of paragraph 1 of article 7 of the Polling Law, which states that ‘the publication, dissemination, and technical interpretation of data obtained through opinion polls must be conducted so as not to falsify or distort their result, meaning and limits.’
Lastly, decision ERC/2025/296 concerning the dissemination of an opinion poll on May 3 on Chega’s social media platforms in the context of the legislative elections also followed the same direction.
Chega argued that “it is not subject to ERC regulation, as it does not fit within the entities listed in article 6 of the ERC Statutes, which, according to the legal representative’s opinion, delimits the ERC’s action concerning the responsibility to ‘ensure the accuracy and impartiality of polls and opinion surveys’ as provided in subparagraph z) of paragraph 2 of article 24 of the ERC Statutes, therefore, rendering the present proceeding in violation of the principle of specialty, provided in article 5 of the ERC Statutes.”
