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1976 Portuguese local elections

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Field	Value
election_name	1976 Portuguese local elections
country	Portugal
type	parliamentary
next_election	1979 Portuguese local elections
next_year	1979
seats_for_election	All 304 Portuguese municipalities and 4,260 Portuguese Parishes
All 1,908 local government councils
election_date	12 December 1976
turnout	64.7%
1blank	Mayors
2blank	Councillors
image2
leader2	Francisco Sá Carneiro
party2	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
popular_vote2	1,014,092
percentage2	24.3%
1data2	115
2data2	624
image1
leader1	Mário Soares
party1	Socialist Party (Portugal)
popular_vote1	1,377,684
percentage1	33.0%
1data1	115
2data1	691
image4
leader4	Álvaro Cunhal
party4	Portuguese Communist Party
alliance4	FEPU
popular_vote4	720,499
percentage4	17.3%
1data4	37
2data4	268
image5
leader5	Diogo Freitas do Amaral
party5	CDS
popular_vote5	693,766
percentage5	16.6%
1data5	36
2data5	317

All 1,908 local government councils

Local elections were held in Portugal on Sunday, 12 December 1976. They were the first local elections in Portugal. The democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power, that should be exerted by the citizens in their towns and cities. These elections ended a cycle of three elections in 1976, after the 1976 legislative election in April and the 1976 Presidential election in June.

The elections were meant to elect for the first time the administration of the about 300 municipalities of the country and of the about 4000 parishes that composed those 300 municipalities. They consisted of three elections in each of the municipalities; the election for the municipal chamber, the election for the municipal assembly and the lower-level election for the parish assembly, whose winner is also automatically elected as President.

The Socialist Party gathered the majority of the voting and mandates, beating the Social Democratic Party, although both parties tied in number of elected mayors, 115. The Communists led coalition, the Electoral Front United People, dominated the election in the South of the country, with more than 17 percent of the votes and elected 37 mayors. The right-wing Democratic Social Center, following their strong showing in the 1976 April legislative election, achieved its best result ever in local elections, almost 17 percent of the votes and 36 mayors.

Turnout in these elections was quite low, as 64.7% of the electorate cast a ballot, compared with the 83.5% turnout rate of the 1976 general elections in April.

Electoral system

All 304 municipalities are allocated a certain number of councilors to elect corresponding to the number of registered voters in a given municipality. Each party or coalition must present a list of candidates. The winner of the most voted list for the municipal council is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP). The lists are closed and the seats in each municipality are apportioned according to the D'Hondt method.

Parties

The main political forces involved in the election:

Democratic and Social Center (CDS)
Electoral Front United People (FEPU)
Groups for the Dinamization of the People's Unity (GDUPs)
Socialist Party (PS)
Social Democratic Party (PSD)

Results

Municipal Councils

National summary of votes and seats

-

| |- | |- | |- | |- | |- |

-
89,073
-
88,783
-
-

}

Municipality map

City control

The following table lists party control in all district capitals, highlighted in bold, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from the 1970 Census.

Municipality	Population	New control
Almada	107,575	Electoral Front United People}}"
Aveiro	49,808	CDS – People's Party}}"
Beja	36,384	Electoral Front United People}}"
Braga	96,918	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Bragança	33,070	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"
Cascais	92,907	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Castelo Branco	55,195	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Coimbra	110,553	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Évora	47,244	Electoral Front United People}}"
Faro	30,973	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Funchal	101,810	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"
Gondomar	105,075	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Guarda	39,741	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Guimarães	122,719	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Leiria	80,241	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"
Lisbon	769,044	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Loures	166,167	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Matosinhos	109,225	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Oeiras	180,194	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Ponta Delgada	67,975	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"
Portalegre	25,800	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Porto	301,655	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Santarém	56,440	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Setúbal	65,230	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Sintra	124,893	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Viana do Castelo	70,455	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"
Vila Nova de Gaia	180,875	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"
Vila Real	44,550	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"
Viseu	73,010	CDS – People's Party}}"

Municipal Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

-

| |- | |- | |- | |- |

-
104,185
-
89,241
-
-

}

Parish Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

-
-

| |- | |- | |- |

-
88,985
-
93,461
-
-

}

Maps

File:Pt ploelection tc1976.PNG|The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Councils in each district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown) File:Pt ploelection tc1976.PNG|The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Assemblies in sech district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown) File:Pt ploelection tc1976.PNG|The first and the second most voted parties in Parish Assemblies in each district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

Notes

The source of the voting data is the Portuguese Electoral Commission

Further Notes:

Electoral Front United People (FEPU) was composed by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE) and the People's Socialist Front (FSP).
The number of candidacies expresses the number of municipalities or parishes in which the party or coalition presented lists.
The number of mandates expresses the number of municipal deputies in the Municipal Assembly election and the number of parish deputies in the Parish Assembly election.
The turnout varies because one may choose not to vote for all the organs.

References

(12 December 2016). "Primeiras Eleições Autárquicas".
(25 April 1976). "Especial Eleições – Parte I".
(27 June 1976). "Presidenciais 76 – Parte I".
(29 September 1976). "Decreto-Lei n.º 701-B/76, de 29 de setembro".
(1 October 2017). "Autárquicas: conta-me como foi este poder local quarentão".
[https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/lei-organica/2001-34526875 Eleição dos titulares dos órgãos das autarquias locais]. ''[[Diário da República]]'' (in Portuguese.) Retrieved 17 July 2025.
"Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Recenseamentos Gerais da População)". [[Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Portugal).

Info: Wikipedia Source

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