An election of the delegation from Portugal to the European Parliament was held on 7 June 2009.

In a surprise upset, the Social Democrats (PSD) were the big winners of this election, debunking forecasts of a very complicated result for then PSD leader, Manuela Ferreira Leite, just a few months before the legislative election. The PSD won 31.7 percent of the vote and 8 seats. It was the first victory of the PSD, in a European election, since 1989. On the other hand, the election was a huge setback for the Socialist Party (PS), which lost almost 18 percentage points. Basically all predictions that pointed to a rather safe PS victory in the election were wrong. As a result, the party lost five of its twelve European Parliament members. The People's Party (CDS-PP) also had a surprising result, winning 8 percent of the vote and electing two European Parliament members. Both PSD and CDS-PP, which ran in a joint list in 2004, increased considerably their scores and together won more than 40 percent of the vote and 10 European Parliament members.

On the left, both the Left Bloc (BE) and Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) achieved very good results, with the historic fact of BE surpassing CDU in both votes and seats for the first time, although only just. Both parties increased their scores at the expense of the Socialist Party. The Left Bloc won 10.7 percent of the vote and three European Parliament members, their best score in EU elections to date, and CDU surpassed once again the 10 percent mark winning 10.6 percent of the vote, but maintaining the two European Parliament members they got in 2004.

Turnout in the elections was quite low, as only 36.78 percent of the electorate cast a ballot, a slightly lower share than in the 2004 election. However, the number of ballots cast was higher than in 2004, and the number of registered voters increased considerably in these elections, making the final turnout share lower than in 2004.

Electoral system The voting method used, for the election of European members of parliament, is by proportional representation using the d'Hondt method, which is known to benefit leading parties. In the 2009 European Union elections, Portugal had 22 seats to be filled. Deputies are elected in a single constituency, corresponding to the entire national territory. Changes to the electoral registration system, approved in 2008, which made registration automatic based on each voter's Identity card, led to a significant increase in the number of registered voters, from 8,8 million in 2004 to 9,7 million in 2009.

Parties and candidates

The lists were headed by Socialist Party (Partido Socialista, PS): Vital Moreira Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata, PSD): Paulo Rangel Democratic Unity Coalition (Coligação Democrática Unitária, CDU): Ilda Figueiredo CDS – People's Party (CDS – Partido Popular, CDS–PP): Nuno Melo Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda, BE): Miguel Portas Portuguese Workers' Communist Party/Reorganized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat (Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses / Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado, PCTP/MRPP): Orlando Alves Earth Party (Partido da Terra, MPT): Pedro Quartin Graça Hope for Portugal Movement (Movimento Esperança Portugal, MEP): Laurinda Alves People's Monarchist Party (Partido Popular Monárquico, PPM): Frederico Carvalho Merit and Society Movement (Movimento Mérito e Sociedade, MMS): Carlos Gomes National Renovator Party (Partido Nacional Renovador, PNR): Humberto Nuno de Oliveira Humanist Party (Partido Humanista, PH): Manuela Magno Workers Party of Socialist Unity (Partido Operário de Unidade Socialista, POUS): Carmelinda Pereira

Campaign period Party slogans Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Refs PS « Nós, Europeus » "We, Europeans" PSD « Assina por baixo? » "Will you sign below?" CDU « Em Portugal e na Europa » "In Portugal and in Europe" CDS–PP « Soluções sérias para Portugal » "Serious solutions for Portugal" BE « Está na hora » "It's time"

Candidates' debates

2004 European Parliament election in Portugal debates Date Organisers Moderator(s) PS PSD CDU CDS–PP BE Refs 17 April RTP1 Fátima Campos FerreiraPPPPP 24 April SIC Notícias Clara de SousaPPNNN 14 May TVI24 Paulo MagalhãesPPPPP 21 May TVI24 Paulo MagalhãesPPNNN

Opinion polling Exit polls from the three major television networks in Portugal, RTP1, SIC and TVI were given precisely at 20:00 pm (local time) on 7 June 2009.

Polling firm/Link Date Released Lead 2009 EP election 7 June 2009 26.5 31.7 8.4 10.6 10.7 12.1 5.2 CESOP–UCP 7 June 2009 28–33 29–34 7–10 9–12 9–12 — 1 Eurosondagem 7 June 2009 27.7–31.5 29.2–33.0 7.5–9.3 9.5– 11.3 11.6–13.4 — 1.5 Intercampus 7 June 2009 24.1–28.1 30.4–34.4 6.7– 9.3 9.7–12.7 9.8–12.8 — 6.3 CESOP–UCP 5 June 200934 32 4 11 9 10 2 Eurosondagem 5 June 200936.0 31.9 6.1 9.0 10.1 6.9 4.1 Aximage 4 June 200936.2 30.9 5.0 10.1 10.2 7.6 5.3 Marktest 4 June 2009 29.4 32.5 3.3 8.9 8.9 17.0 3.1 Marktest 1 June 200931.9 30.1 4.7 7.1 7.1 19.1 1.8 Intercampus 29 May 200937.1 32.0 3.5 7.7 9.9 9.8 5.1 Eurosondagem 29 May 200935.5 32.5 6.5 9.2 8.8 7.5 3.0 Aximage 26 May 200938.0 31.1 6.3 7.9 8.5 8.2 6.9 Eurosondagem 22 May 200934.3 32.1 6.9 8.9 10.1 7.7 2.2 Aximage 17 May 200938.5 32.3 5.6 8.7 9.2 5.7 6.2 Marktest 9 May 200933.1 32.9 4.5 7.6 8.4 13.5 0.2 CESOP–UCP 1 May 200939 36 4 7 12 2 3 Intercampus 24 April 200934.0 33.5 6.9 7.9 18.0 0.5 2004 EP election 13 June 200444.5 33.3 9.1 4.9 8.2 11.2

Voter turnout The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day including voters from Overseas.

Turnout Time 12:00 16:00 19:00 2004 2009 ± 2004 2009 ± 2004 2009 ± Total 14.20% 11.86% 2.34 pp 27.19% 26.82% 0.37 pp 38.60% 36.78% 1.82 pp Sources

Results

Distribution by European group + Summary of political group distribution in the 7th European Parliament (2009–2014) Groups Parties Seats Total % European People's Party (EPP) 82 10 45.45 Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) 7 7 31.82 European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) 32 5 22.73 Total 22 22 100.00

Maps

See also Politics of Portugal List of political parties in Portugal Elections in Portugal European Parliament 2009 European Parliament election

Notes

References

External links Comissão Nacional de Eleições