Portugal Presidential election 2016 — Results
Election day: January 24, 2016
- Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa: 52.00%
- António Sampaio da Nóvoa: 22.88%
- Marisa Matias: 10.12%
- Maria de Belém Roseira: 4.23%
- Edgar Silva: 3.93%
- Vitorino Silva: 3.28%
- Paulo de Morais: 2.16%
Turnout: 48.66%
About this election
The political system
Portugal's President is directly elected for a five-year term (renewable once) by a two-round system: a candidate winning more than 50% of valid votes in the first round is elected outright, otherwise the top two contest a run-off. Although the presidency is largely above day-to-day politics, its powers are real — appointing the prime minister, vetoing legislation, dissolving parliament and serving as commander-in-chief and guarantor of the constitution. Candidates run as individuals rather than party nominees, though parties endorse them, and the office traditionally rewards figures who project unity above partisanship.
Compiled and reviewed from official results by ElectioMap. See our data methodology.
In numbers
- 29.12 points separated Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa from António Sampaio da Nóvoa — 1,351,818 votes.
- The top two shared 74.88% of the vote between them, and 3 lists cleared 5%.
- Support for Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa ranged from 62.57% in Viseu to 31.71% in Beja — a spread of 30.86 points across 20 regions, and it led in 20 of 20.
- Turnout of 48.66% is the highest of the 2 presidential elections covered here since 2016.
Calculated from the official figures on this page and from the other elections of this type in our archive.
Understanding this election
- Why Election Maps Look Different From the Popular Vote — why a map can look one-sided when the vote was close
- How a Constituency Map Gets Built — what happens when no boundary file matches the districts
- How We Check an Election Figure — the checks every number passes before publication