The Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) announced that as of Sunday, the closing date for the electoral roll for the local elections, there were 9,303,840 registered voters.
Among them, 9,262,722 are domestic voters, reported the MAI.
The remaining include 18,319 foreign voters from the European Union (EU) and 22,799 foreign voters from outside the EU, all registered within national territory.
The official campaign for the municipal elections, scheduled for October 12, began today and will continue until October 10, the Friday before the election day, according to the schedule released by the National Election Commission (CNE).
Provisional data from the CNE estimate that 817 political forces and movements are contesting these municipal elections. Of these, 618 are candidacies from citizen groups, 181 are from various party coalitions, and 18 from individual political parties.
In total, the provisional figures show that the candidates have submitted 1,588 lists for municipal councils, 1,524 for municipal assemblies, and 9,750 for parish assemblies.
During the municipal elections, which will run from 08:00 to 20:00 on October 12, voters will elect the governing bodies of 308 municipal councils, 308 municipal assemblies, and 3,221 parish assemblies.
An additional 37 parishes will elect their executives in citizen plenaries due to having fewer than 150 voters.
As a result of these elections, 302 parishes will be reinstated after being merged or dissolved by the administrative reform of 2013, in a process that will dismantle 135 parish unions.
Portugal has 308 municipalities, and following the upcoming elections, there will be 3,258 parishes (with Corvo being the only municipality without a Parish Board, its responsibilities are assumed by the Municipal Council).
