When entering the municipal elections last Sunday (12 October), Maria Emília Costa, CDU candidate for the parish of Moimenta da Beira (located in the municipality of the same name, in the district of Viseu), already knew that she was going to be elected. All because the Constitutional Court failed the independent candidate Dinamizar Moimenta, who was considered a favorite to win, as he presented 87 signatures, a number below the legal minimum (91). With this, the communist candidate was guaranteed the election.
Four years ago, the CDU came last in the communist parish and the lack of voter support was also evident now, despite Maria Emília Costa’s victory. As? The blank votes and invalid votes were more than those obtained by the candidate.
According to the calculation data made available at the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration (SGMAI), the president-elect of the parish council had 674 votes among 1,791 voters (which represents 37.63% of voting intentions). There were 812 citizens voting blank, 812 and 305 choosing null. Calculations made: 1,117 voters (out of 3,006 registered) did not intend to elect Maria Emília Costa as president of the board.
However, a more in-depth analysis of the numbers available at SGMAI shows that this rejection may not be so surprising: in the parish of the municipality of Moimentense, the CDU came in last place in the choices for the city council (with 37 votes) and for the Municipal Assembly (78). In 2021, the result had been even less positive: 29 votes for the city council and 74 for the assembly.
Unopposed candidacy is not unheard of, but it is rare
Despite the peculiarity of this case, there were several unopposed candidacies that went to the vote — albeit with different results.
For example, in Faro do Alentejo (in the Alentejo municipality of Cuba), the CDU candidate ran alone after being elected for the first time in 2021. Both times, Diogo Machado won with an absolute majority, but now he entered the race with no one to challenge him. He received 271 votes out of 333 possible.
Further north, and in the municipality of Moimenta da Beira itself, there were eight more cases in addition to the one in the parish of the same name. In all cases, the outcome was very different, with the independent party or movement winning without contest.
According to data provided by Antena 1 in September, at national level there were 335 unopposed candidates, with the PSD (which won the elections at national level) presenting the most uncompetitive candidates, in 183 parishes across the country.