Benfica leadership has announced extensive administrative reforms aimed at significantly reducing waiting times and improving efficiency for members voting in the upcoming second round of the club’s presidential election on November 8.
José Pereira da Costa, President of Benfica’s General Assembly, stated that these changes directly address numerous complaints from the first round, primarily focusing on slow processes. Improvements are planned across 44 polling sections, in addition to two in Lisbon, to streamline the voting experience.
The club will add 72 new voting booths, effectively creating 144 additional voting points, and is increasing check-in stations by eight. Overall, the election day will feature 576 voting points, 301 check-in points, and 472 ballot boxes.
Further adjustments include the designation of specific schools in areas like Loures and Amadora, near Lisbon, to resolve previously identified issues.
Pereira da Costa also committed to enhancing communication with members, promising to provide real-time updates on queue lengths in various regions. The club aims for a much faster vote count compared to the first round, where final percentages were not known until early afternoon.
To accelerate the scrutiny process, Benfica is doubling the number of counting tables in Lisbon sections, with an expectation to halve the time required for tabulation. Candidacies have been invited to assign four delegates to begin participating in the scrutiny process at 10 PM on election night, an initiative designed to further expedite results.