According to the Summary Report on Complaint Processes/Requests for Opinions and Requests for Information, updated until September 12 and published today on the CNE’s page, 433 complaints related to the local elections in October were received, along with 37 requests for opinions.
The CNE has made decisions regarding 137 cases, while another 333 are still pending.
Among the 137 decisions, 12 complaints were forwarded to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, along with 29 other administrative offense processes (AOP).
Further cases include 15 AOPs, 21 complaints sent to the Regulatory Entity for Social Communication (ERC), 30 cases where opinions or clarifications were issued, 16 filed cases, seven resulting in injunctions, five in warnings, and one recommendation, with one decision unspecified.
The complaints and opinion requests were primarily initiated by citizens (255 cases), but also came from the PS (45 cases), party coalitions (38), PSD (37), local municipal bodies (30), groups of citizen voters (20), Chega (15), Liberal Initiative (eight), CDU – PCP/PEV coalition (six), BE (five), among others.
The main targets were local municipal bodies (342 cases), social networks (389), media outlets (34), the PS (11), public entities (13), and party coalitions (15).
The complaints and opinion requests were mainly focused on support means like social networks (225 cases) and posters (46), primarily concerning institutional advertising (231), neutrality and impartiality of public entities (114), commercial advertising (45), propaganda (29), and media coverage of the campaigns (29).
The newly published report by the CNE also states that between July 14 and September 12, 2,297 information requests were received by phone, along with 1,899 written information requests.
The main issues addressed in telephone information requests were candidacies (864 cases), voter registration and voting rights in Portugal (245), and propaganda (190).
The main topics for written information requests included propaganda (309 cases), institutional advertising (242), candidacy processes (209), neutrality and impartiality of public entities (177), delegates and polling station members (156), early voting (125), electoral registration (108), and candidacy processes of citizen groups (103).
Out of the written information requests, 1,183 were initiated by citizens, 237 by local municipal bodies, and 156 by candidacies of citizen groups.
The local elections are scheduled for October 12.
