The 2024 Azorean regional election was held on 4 February 2024,Presidente dissolve Assembleia dos Açores e marca eleições para 4 de Fevereiro Público, 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023. to determine the composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores. The election replaced all 57 members of the Azores Assembly, and the new members would then elect the President of the Autonomous Region. It was the first early election since Azores gained its autonomy in 1976.230 mil eleitores decidem este domingo o futuro dos Açores Diário de Notícias, 4 February 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
President José Manuel Bolieiro, from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), led a coalition government between the Social Democrats, the CDS – People's Party (CDS–PP) and People's Monarchist Party (PPM), with the parliamentary support of Chega (CH) since late 2020. The Liberal Initiative (IL) initially supported the PSD coalition government but withdrew their support from the government on 8 March 2023.IL rompe com PSD nos Açores e ex-Chega imita-o. PS já fala em “certidão de óbito” Público, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023. The Social Democrats, the CDS – People's Party and the People's Monarchist Party contested this election in a joint coalition as stipulated in their 2020 coalition agreement.Acordo político entre PSD, CDS e PPM nos Açores é para duas legislaturas TVI24, 14 November 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
The PSD/CDS/PPM coalition won the election with 42 percent of the votes and elected 26 seats, the same number as of 2020. The Socialist Party (PS) failed to be the most voted party for the first time since 1996, gathering less than 36 percent of the votes and electing 23 seats, minus two compared with 2020.Açores: “Governarei em maioria relativa. Não cedo a chantagens”, afirma Bolieiro Público, 4 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
Chega was the party that most increased in share, achieving 9 percent of the votes and electing 5 seats to the regional parliament.Chega/Açores: "Mais do que duplicámos desde as últimas eleições e isto só pode ser considerado uma grande vitória" Sapo, 4 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024. The party's result was seen as a prelude to next month's general election in which Chega saw a surge in support as well. The Left Bloc (BE) lost ground, compared with 2020, losing one seat, while the Liberal Initiative (IL) and the People-Animals-Nature (PAN) were able to hold on to their sole seats. The Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU) failed to return to the regional parliament.
Turnout stood at 50.3 percent, the highest rate since 2004.
Background 2023 government crisis The PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition government was, since the beginning, marred by instability due to political tensions between or within parties, especially Chega, which even lost a member of the regional Parliament during the Parliamentary term.Chega-Açores perde líder e um deputado: Carlos Furtado passa a independente “com alegria” Público, 14 July 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2023. But, on 8 March 2023, the Liberal Initiative decided to remove their support from the government, citing deep disagreements on policy and tensions between the minor parties within the coalition, CDS–PP and PPM particularly.IL rompe acordo de incidência parlamentar com Governo dos Açores Notícias ao Minuto, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023. Shortly after, the independent MP Carlos Furtado, a Chega dissident, also withdrew his support from the government, accusing the it of lack of institutional respect and for failing to follow the deal between both.Açores. Após IL, deputado independente também rompe acordo com Governo Notícias ao Minuto, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
Following these announcements, which caused the government to lose its majority, President José Manuel Bolieiro rejected the idea of a motion of confidence and said that he would continue to govern, but that an early election could be likely.Bolieiro recusa moção de confiança e ser "fator de instabilidade" Jornal de Notícias, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023. The PS, the main opposition party, discussed the possibility of presenting a motion of no confidence against the government,"Temos assistido permanentemente a situações de instabilidade". PS Açores decide sobre moção de censura na quinta-feira CNN Portugal, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023. but the idea was dropped, and the PSD coalition governed as a minority and negotiated case by case with parties.Crise política nos Açores: Bolieiro promete estabilidade governativa SIC Notícias, 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
Rejection of the budget proposal for 2024 In 23 November 2023, the parliament of Azores failed to approve the regional government's budget proposal for 2024. 28 MPs voted against it, 27 MPs voted in favor and 2 MPs abstained. The votes against it were cast by PS (25), BE (2) and IL (1). The votes in favor were by PSD (21), CDS–PP (3), PPM (2) and the independent MP Carlos Furtado (1). Chega (1) and PAN (1) abstained. According to the Framework Law for the Budget of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the regional government must present a new budget proposal within 90 days of the rejection of the previous proposal. The president of the regional government, José Manuel Bolieiro, said he wanted to present a new budget proposal. That same day, the President of Portugal scheduled meetings for 30 November, at the Belém Palace in Lisbon, with the parties represented in the parliament of Azores.
On the meeting with the President of Portugal, in 30 November, José Manuel Bolieiro said that it seemed pointless to present a second budget proposal without a guarantee of its approval and that early regional legislative elections should be held as quickly as possible. He suggested the date of 4 February 2024 for the elections and announced that PSD, CDS–PP and PPM would run under a joint coalition. PS, CDS–PP, BE, PPM and IL also said they wanted early elections.
On 11 December, after meeting with the Council of State, the President of Portugal dissolved the regional parliament of the Azores and called early elections for 4 February 2024.
Electoral system The Azores regional parliament elects 57 members through a proportional system in which the 9 islands elect a number of MPs proportional to the number of registered voters. MPs are allocated by using the D'Hondt method. 5 members are also elected for a compensation constituency. Distribution of MPs by constituency:
Constituency Total MPs Registeredvoters Corvo 2 355 Faial 4 13,005 Flores 3 3,083 Graciosa 3 3,872 Pico 4 13,808 Santa Maria 3 5,200 São Jorge 3 8,712 São Miguel 20 128,814 Terceira 10 53,072 Compensation 5 - Total 57 229,921
Parties Composition The table below lists parties represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Azores before the election. Name Ideology Leader 2020 result Seats atdissolution % Seats PS Socialist Party Social democracy Vasco Cordeiro 39.1% PPD/PSD Social Democratic Party Liberal conservatism José Manuel Bolieiro 33.7% CDS–PP CDS – People's Party Conservatism Artur Lima 5.5% CH Enough! National conservatismRight-wing populism José PachecoDeputado regional José Pacheco eleito presidente do Chega nos Açores Sapo24, 23 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022. 5.1% BE Left Bloc António Lima 3.8% PPM People's Monarchist Party Monarchism Paulo Estêvâo 2.4% IL Liberal Initiative Liberalism Nuno BarataJosé Luís Parreira 1.9% PAN People Animals Nature Animal welfareEnvironmentalism Pedro Neves 1.9% JPP Together for the PeopleRegionalism Carlos FurtadoDid not run
Seat changes On 14 July 2021, Chega's national leader, André Ventura, removed his confidence in party MP, and former regional leader, Carlos Furtado, but Furtado decided to remain in the regional assembly as an Independent. In December 2023, Furtado announced he had joined the Together for the People party and would become the party's regional leader in the Azores.
Parties running in the election 11 lists will be on the ballot for the 2024 Azorean regional election, eight parties and three coalitions. The parties that will contest the election and their lead candidates, are: (alphabetically ordered)10 forças políticas apresentaram candidaturas às eleições regionais, RTP Açores, 26 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
National Democratic Alternative (ADN), Rui MatosRegionais 2024: ADN apresenta candidatos em todos os círculos eleitorais, RTP Açores, 26 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023. Left Bloc (BE), António Lima Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU), Marco Varela Chega (CH), José Pacheco Liberal Initiative (IL), Nuno Barata Together for the People (JPP), Carlos Furtado LIVRE (L), José Azevedo Earth Party/Alliance Alternative 21 coalition (MPT/A), José Olívio Arranhado People-Animals-Nature (PAN), Pedro Neves Social Democratic Party/CDS – People's Party/People's Monarchist Party coalition (PSD/CDS–PP/PPM), José Manuel Bolieiro Socialist Party (PS), Vasco Cordeiro
Campaign period Party slogans Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Refs PSD/CDS/PPM « Unidos pelos Açores » "United by the Azores" PS « Vasco Cordeiro, o Presidente de Confiança » "Vasco Cordeiro, the Trusted President" CH « Os Açores precisam de uma limpeza » "The Azores needs a clean up" BE « Levar a sério os Açores » "Taking the Azores seriously" IL « A alternativa é Liberal » "The alternative is Liberal" PAN « Um por todos. Todos pelos Açores » "One for all. All for the Azores" JPP « Em frente. Sem medo! » "Forward. Without fear!"
Candidates' debates + 2024 Azorean regional election debates Date Organisers Moderator(s) PS CH BE IL PAN CDU L JPP ADN 21 Jan RTP Açores João SimasPPAPPPPPPP
Opinion polls
Polling firm/Link Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout Lead 2024 regional election 4 Feb 2024 50.3 35.942.1 9.2 2.5 2.1 1.6 1.6 4.9 6.2 CESOP–UCP 4 Feb 2024 9,475 50–56 32–3740–45 8–11 1–3 1–3 1–3 1–3 8 CESOP–UCP 27–28 Jan 2024 2,297 3936 9 3 2 2 2 7 3 Aximage 18–24 Jan 2024 411 38.642.2 7.3 2.2 1.6 2.2 1.4 4.4 3.6 2022 legislative election 30 Jan 2022 36.742.833.9 5.9 4.3 4.1 1.4 1.5 6.1 8.9 2021 local elections 26 Sep 2021 54.2 43.146.4 1.2 1.8 0.6 0.5 1.2 5.2 3.3 2020 regional election 25 Oct 2020 45.439.1 33.7 5.5 2.4 5.1 3.8 1.9 1.9 1.7 4.9 5.4
Voter turnout The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day.
Turnout Time 11:00 15:00 19:00 2020 2024 ± 2020 2024 ± 2020 2024 ± Total 9.16% 13.77% 4.61 pp 32.68% 34.84% 2.16 pp 45.41% 50.33% 4.92 pp Sources
Results Regional summary
| colspan=10| |- ! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing ! colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|MPs |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;"|2020 ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;"|2024 ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|± ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|± |- |style="width: 10px" bgcolor= align="center" | |align=left|PSD/CDS/PPM coalition |48,672||42.08||0.4||26||26||0||45.61||0.0
|41,538||35.92||3.2||25||23||2||40.35||3.5 |- |style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#202056 align="center" | |align=left|Chega |10,627||9.19||4.1||2||5||3||8.77||5.3
|2,936||2.54||1.3||2||1||1||1.75||1.7 |- |style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#00ADEF align="center" | |align=left|Liberal Initiative |2,482||2.15||0.2||1||1||0||1.75||0.0
|1,907||1.65||0.3||1||1||0||1.75||0.0
|1,821||1.57||0.1||0||0||0||0.00||0.0
|735||0.64||0.2||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |style="width: 10px" bgcolor= align="center" | |align=left|Together for the People |626||0.54||||||0||||0.00|| |- | style="width: 10px" bgcolor="#274E82" align="center" |