“The investigation has been confirmed, which is proceeding in the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) of Vila Real. It is subject to judicial secrecy,” stated the Attorney General’s Office in a response.
The complaint was filed on October 9 by the Vila Real PS municipal candidacy, which highlighted a roughly 15% increase in the voter registration in Guiães in less than five months.
For the May legislative elections, Guiães had 576 registered voters, increasing to 660 voters in the municipal elections on October 12.
“And this in the smallest parish of Vila Real. That is, we had a voter registration growth of more than 15%,” said José Silva, president of the Vila Real PS Municipal Political Commission.
In light of “this inexplicable increase,” Silva noted that the anomaly was reported to the Public Prosecutor and the National Elections Commission (CNE).
“We are waiting for developments,” he explained, adding that the complaint was not against anyone specific but simply noted the fact.
At the time, he recalled, the alert for “this anomaly” came from the former president of the Guiães Parish Council, who was running for re-election with the PS and lost by six votes to the independent movement “Unidos por Guiães.”
In the municipal elections, 453 out of 660 registered voters cast their votes, with the movement winning with 226 votes, compared to the PS’s 220.
In 2021, the PS won with 186 votes, four more than “Unidos por Guiães.”
The Attorney General’s Office also confirmed on Wednesday the opening of an investigation following complaints of alleged irregularities in voter registration in the Union of Parishes of Montalegre and Padroso, also in the Vila Real district, which received 124 new voters for the municipal elections.
The complaint regarding alleged irregularities, false addresses, and election fraud was made by Sandra Batista, 40, who was third on the PSD list for the municipal elections on October 12 in the Union of Parishes of Montalegre and Padroso and lost the election to the PS by 78 votes.
“What worries me is the ease with which, in Portugal, election results are manipulated, especially in municipal elections,” stated Sandra Batista.
