During the recent legislative elections, eight of the ten municipalities with the highest abstention rates were located in the Azores electoral district. Ribeira Grande led with an abstention rate of 62.34%, followed by Vila Franca do Campo at 61.38%. Further down the list were Vila do Porto at 59.78%, Povoação at 59.62%, Calheta at 59.20%, and Velas at 57.31%, with Vila Praia da Vitória and Lagoa following closely.
Melgaço in the Viana do Castelo district registered the third-highest abstention rate at 59.94%, while Vimioso in Bragança ranked seventh with 57.46%.
In the 2024 legislative elections, the Azores also recorded the highest abstention rate, although it was lower at 53.8%.
Conversely, the municipality with the lowest abstention rate was Sardoal in Santarém, with just 26.95%, followed by Vila do Rei in Castelo Branco at 26.13%, and Maia in Porto at 26.63%. Other municipalities with low abstention included Vila Nova de Famalicão in Braga, Barcelos in Braga, Trofa in Porto, Guimarães in Braga, Arruda dos Vinhos in Lisbon, Alcochete in Setúbal, and Mação in Santarém, ranging from 27.63% to 28.56%.
Bragança emerged as the second highest electoral district in terms of abstention at 47.29%, with Madeira following at 45.69%.
The Porto district registered the second-lowest abstention rate at 31.03%, with Lisbon in third place at 33.43%.
The abstention rate for the legislative elections held on Sunday is expected to be 35.62%, the lowest in 30 years since it was 33.70% in October 1995.
These figures do not include votes from residents abroad, whose participation results will be available on May 28.
The AD coalition, consisting of PSD/CDS, secured a victory in Sunday’s legislative elections, securing 89 deputies, including three elected alongside the AD-PPM alliance in the Azores. Both the PS and Chega parties secured 58 seats in parliament.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Initiative maintained its position as the fourth-largest political force, increasing its representation by one deputy to a total of nine since 2024. The Livre advanced from four to six elected representatives, rising to third place.
The CDU lost one seat, retaining only three deputies, while the Bloco de Esquerda saw its presence reduced to a single representative. The PAN maintained its single deputy.
The JPP from Madeira successfully elected one deputy.
