On Sunday at eight in the morning (local time and GMT), the Portuguese began voting in a presidential second round between socialist Antonio José Seguro, who is the favorite (67 percent according to the polls) and Shiga party leader Andre Ventura (33 percent), the day after an event was postponed due to violent storms. Seguro warned of the "nightmare" of a far-right victory while Ventura complained of an "all against one" campaign. The elections test the strength of the populist right after its recent legislative success.

Published on: 02/08/2026 - 12:04

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The Portuguese began voting on Sunday in the second round of the presidential elections, in which the most likely candidate, socialist Antonio José Seguro, will compete with far-right leader Andre Ventura.

After an election campaign that was severely affected by the bad weather conditions that struck the country over the past two weeks, polling stations opened at eight in the morning (local time and GMT) to 11 million voters in Portugal and abroad. Preliminary results are expected to be released at eight in the evening.

The severe storms that swept through Portugal during the past two weeks, following Séguro's lead in the first round, prompted at least 14 of the most affected electoral districts to postpone voting for a week.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said on Saturday, "I am fully confident that everything in our power will be done to ensure the security and normal conduct of the electoral process."

Read also: Portuguese presidential elections: The far-right Ventura will face the socialist Seguro in a second round

Polls favor Seguro

A recent poll published on Wednesday predicted that Seguro, a 63-year-old veteran politician who has spent the past decade away from public life, would receive 67 percent of the vote.

According to the same poll, Ventura, a 43-year-old member of parliament, may receive 33 percent of the votes.

While these expectations of victory raised fears in Seguru that voters would refrain from voting in the second round, the bad weather conditions in the past two weeks prompted the socialist candidate to consider abstention from voting as his “biggest opponent.”

“You must vote on Sunday,” he said on Friday evening during his last election rally, after repeatedly stating that the country would find itself “in a nightmare” on Monday if the far-right candidate won.

Ventura: "All against one"

"There are those who are doing their best to prevent the Portuguese from voting," he added, referring to Ventura's request to postpone the elections after the recent storms.

The leader of the anti-ruling class Shiga (meaning "enough" in Portuguese) party, which promised a "break" with the parties that have ruled Portugal for the past half century, complained that he was forced to campaign according to an "all against one" scenario, which makes his victory "more difficult."

Seguru won the first round three weeks ago with 31.1% of the vote, and has since received the support of many political figures from the far left, center and even the right, with the exception of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.

The rise of the far right

The head of the right-wing minority government, which in parliament sometimes relies on the support of the socialists and sometimes on the far right, refused to issue voting instructions for the second round after the candidate supported by his party was excluded.

Ventura achieved an achievement by qualifying for the second round by obtaining 23.5% of the votes, thus confirming the electoral progress of the Shiga Party, which became the main opposition force after the legislative elections in May 2025.

José Santana Pereira, professor of political science at the Lisbon University Institute, explained that this far-right leader seeks to "strengthen his electoral base" and "establish himself as the actual leader of the Portuguese right."

The new president, as of March 1, succeeds Governor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has held the position for ten years.

While the role of the Portuguese head of state is largely symbolic, he is called upon to intervene as an arbiter in times of crisis, and has the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

France 24/AFP

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