Another local contest has wrapped up, and the final participation numbers are coming in. Early projections suggest a significant portion of our communities stayed on the sidelines this time. The overall non-participation rate for Saturday’s municipal elections is expected to fall between 43% and 48.3%. Major news outlets like RTP, SIC, and CNN Portugal have all released their forecasts.
Looking back at past municipal showdowns, this isn’t entirely new territory. Non-participation has held above the 40% mark since the 2009 contests. Just four years ago, we saw the second-highest rate, a substantial 46.35%. That figure was only slightly below the all-time record of 47.4%, set during the 2013 season.
By four o’clock this afternoon, the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration reported the early turnout. A total of 43.42% of eligible voters had cast their ballots by that time. This was a slight improvement compared to the same point in the contests four years ago.
Expert analysts from Catholic University weighed in just before 7 PM in mainland regions, or 6 PM further west. Their projection, shared via RTP, places the final non-participation rate for today’s elections between 43% and 48%. Shortly after, at 7 PM, SIC and CNN Portugal released their own coinciding predictions. Both news organizations anticipate the non-participation rate to settle between 43.3% and 48.3%.