The recount process will be conducted by the general scrutiny assembly, presided over by a judicial magistrate who will reconvene for this purpose, although the starting date remains unknown, Lisbon City Council stated in response to Lusa agency.
Inquiries about the impact on the swearing-in of the newly elected executive from the October 12 municipal elections, which resulted in Carlos Moedas’ (PSD) re-election as the president of Lisbon City Council, led the municipality to confirm that this act “can only occur after the official results have been announced.”
“The electoral law specifies that the installation of the body occurs up to the 20th day following the final determination of the election results,” they added.
The decision stems from the Constitutional Court’s ruling, published on Friday, concerning an appeal filed by the CDU (PCP/PEV coalition), mandating a “recount of votes from polling station no. 28 in the voting assembly of São Domingos de Benfica parish, Lisbon, in the municipal election.”
In this ruling, judges from Palácio Ratton also decided to validate one null vote in favor of the CDU at a polling station in the Santa Maria Maior parish and to declare null another vote initially attributed to Chega.
In response to this decision, Chega appealed to the Constitutional Court on Monday, disagreeing primarily with the validation of a null vote for the CDU, arguing that it is “incompletely wrong and shows a certain partiality.”
“The Chega party appealed the decision, with the process pending with the reporting counselor,” the Constitutional Court informed the Lusa agency on Monday, indicating that the vote recount is conducted by the general scrutiny assembly.
In the Lisbon City Council election, Chega initially led the CDU by 11 votes, according to the provisional results from October 12. Days later, the local scrutiny assembly reduced this difference to three votes. With the Constitutional Court’s ruling, Chega’s lead over the CDU narrowed to just one vote.
The vote difference between Chega and CDU is significant in terms of councilor election in Lisbon City Council, with the higher-ranking party securing two mandates while the other gets just one. If Chega is confirmed as the third most-voted candidacy, after PSD/CDS-PP/IL and PS/Livre/BE/PAN, CDU loses a communist councilor in the capital compared to the two elected in 2021.
Regarding the vote recount, Lusa also consulted the National Election Commission (CNE), which stated it was not aware of the scheduled date for the procedure, adding, “the electoral process is urgent in nature, so these procedures should occur as soon as possible.”
During the municipal elections on October 12, Carlos Moedas, a Social Democrat, was re-elected as President of Lisbon City Council by the PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition with 41.69% of the votes, defeating socialist Alexandra Leitão (PS/Livre/BE/PAN), who received 33.95%.
Out of the 17 mandates making up Lisbon’s municipal executive, the “Por ti, Lisboa” coalition – PSD/CDS-PP/IL secured eight seats and the “Viver Lisboa” candidacy – PS/Livre/BE/PAN obtained six, according to election results, also allocating councilor positions to Chega and CDU, while it remains to be clarified who elects two instead of one.
In the 2021-2025 mandate, the municipal executive included seven members from the “Novos Tempos” coalition – PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança, seven from the “Mais Lisboa” coalition – PS/Livre, two from CDU, and one from BE. Chega failed to elect any councilors in 2021.
