I want to vote. What do I do?

In local elections, foreign citizens have the right to vote for their favourite candidate to represent the municipality they are living. According to the Comissão Nacional de Eleições (CNE) all people registered in the Portuguese electoral census can vote.

To be registered in the electoral census, people must visit the Junta de Freguesia, mentioned in their residence title, which will be where the person resides. All citizens from a European Union (EU) country may be registered, as well as British people with Portuguese residence before Brexit. Brazilian and Cape Verde citizens may also register, after being legally residing in Portugal for more than two years. In the case of British people who resided in the country after Brexit, they must be legally residing in Portugal for more than three years. The same is applied to people from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Iceland, Norway, New Zealand, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

To be registered you need to be at least, 17 years old, although the legal age to vote in Portugal is 18 years old, it is possible to vote the day the person turns 18.

The CNE advises that the register must be made 60 days before the election happens. Which according to the law must happen between 22 September and 14 October, although the elections are predicted to take place in September.

Are any documents required?

Citizens who are from an EU country, or British people residing in Portugal before Brexit happened, must head to the Junta de Freguesia with an Identification Card and Residency Card. If in any of those documents the address is contemplated, besides the cards, the citizens must take with them proof of their residency in that municipality – which can be a water, or electricity bill, where the name is present. Rent contracts also have the function of proof of residence.

Citizens from other countries or the United Kingdom after Brexit, must present in their Junta de Freguesia their residence title, whether the authorisation is for a temporary or permanent residence.

My residence card lost validity. May I vote?

CNE mentions that it is possible to vote with an expired residence card, only if it expires on 14 March 2020 or the 15 days immediately before. Those people may register to vote in local elections until 30 June 2025.

How do I know if I am registered?

To check on the registration people may visit their Junta de Freguesia or visit the website: www.recenseamento.mai.gov.pt

What is being voted on in local elections?

In September, residents in Portugal will go to the polls to choose the next 308 mayors as well as the members of the municipal assemblies. People will also pick the more than 3,000 presidents of parishes around the country. In this election, people will choose the best candidate to represent and work in their cities and towns.

Contrary to national elections, in local elections the candidates may not represent a party, as some citizens prefer to create an independent movement, aiming to correspond to their city’s needs, without being linked to any political party.

Author

Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. 

Bruno G. Santos