2019 Madeiran regional election
Regional elections were held on 22 September 2019[1] to determine the composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira in Portugal. All 47 members of the Assembly were up for election.
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| 47 seats to the Legislative Assembly of Madeira 24 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 55.5%  5.8 pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|  The most voted party by municipality. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Social Democratic Party continued their 43-year streak of being the largest party in the Madeiran legislature, but failed to hold on to their absolute majority, and would require a coalition for the first time to remain in power. The party won 39% of the votes, a decrease of 5%, and lost 3 members of the regional party. In the electoral map, the PSD lost the two biggest cities in Madeira, Funchal and Santa Cruz to the PS, although by less than 2% of the vote. Overall, the PSD still won the majority of municipalities, obtaining victory in 7 of the 11 in Madeira.
The Socialist Party surged in these elections, polling just two seats and 3.6% behind the PSD. It was the best showing of the PS in a regional election in Madeira going back to the first regional elections in 1976, two years after the fall of the dictatorship. The party won 4 of the 11 municipalities in Madeira. The People's Party lost a lot of votes and seats in these elections, winning just 3 seats and 5.8% of the vote. Together for the People (JPP) also suffered a big setback by losing 2 members and almost 5% of the votes. It even failed to obtain second place in their traditional bastion of Santa Cruz, falling behind the PS and PSD. The Unitary Democratic Coalition lost 1 of their 2 seats, and lost 3.7% of votes compared to 2015. The Left Bloc was wiped from the regional Assembly completely and only won 1.7% of the votes. These elections were fought mainly between the PSD and PS, and many left-wing voters opted to vote tactically for the PS to prevent another PSD victory, but by doing so, they hurt the chances of smaller left-wing parties and alliances such as the Left Bloc and CDU.[2]
The turnout in these elections increased compared to the previous one for the first time in over a decade, with 55.5% of voters casting a ballot, compared with the record-low 49.6% in the 2015 elections.
Electoral system
    
The current 47 members of the Madeiran regional parliament are elected in a single constituency by proportional representation under the D'Hondt method, coinciding with the territory of the Region.[3]
Parties
    
    Current composition
    
The table below lists parties represented in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira before the election.
| Name | Ideology | Leader | 2015 result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||
| PSD | Social Democratic Party Partido Social-Democrata | Liberal conservatism | Miguel Albuquerque | 44.4% | 24 / 47 | |
| CDS-PP | CDS – People's Party Centro Democrático Social – Partido Popular | Conservatism | Rui Barreto | 13.1% | 7 / 47 | |
| PS | Socialist Party Partido Socialista | Social democracy | Emanuel Câmara[lower-alpha 1] Paulo Cafôfo | 11.4% [lower-alpha 2] | 5 / 47 | |
| PTP | Portuguese Labour Party Partido Trabalhista Português | Social democracy | Quintino Costa | 1 / 47 | ||
| JPP | Together for the People Juntos pelo Povo | Centrism | Élvio Sousa | 10.3% | 5 / 47 | |
| PCP | Portuguese Communist Party Partido Comunista Português | Communism | Edgar Silva | 5.5% [lower-alpha 3] | 2 / 47 | |
| B.E. | Left Bloc Bloco de Esquerda | Democratic socialism | Paulino Ascenção | 3.8% | 2 / 47 | |
| Ind. | Independent Independente | Gil Canha (elected for the now extinct PND) | 1 / 47 | |||
Parties running in the election
    
17 parties were on the ballot for the 2019 Madeira regional election. The parties that contested the election and their lead candidates were: (parties/coalitions are ordered by the way they appeared on the ballot)[4]
- Democratic Republican Party (PDR), Filipe Rebelo[5]
- Enough (CH), Miguel Teixeira[6]
- National Renovator Party (PNR), Álvaro Araújo[7]
- Left Bloc (BE), Paulino Ascenção
- Socialist Party (PS), Paulo Cafôfo
- People-Animals-Nature (PAN), João Henrique de Freitas[8]
- Alliance (A), Joaquim Sousa[9]
- Earth Party (MPT), Valter Rodrigues[10]
- Portuguese Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP), Fernanda Calaça[11]
- Social Democratic Party (PSD), Miguel Albuquerque
- Liberal Initiative (IL), Nuno Morna[12]
- Portuguese Labour Party (PTP), Raquel Coelho
- United Party of Retirees and Pensioners (PURP), Rafael Macedo[13]
- CDS – People's Party (CDS-PP), Rui Barreto
- Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU), Edgar Silva
- Together for the People (JPP), Élvio Sousa
- React, Include, Recycle (RIR), Roberto Vieira[lower-alpha 4][14]
Campaign period
    
    Party slogans
    
| Party or alliance | Original slogan | English translation | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSD | « Cumprir no rumo certo » | "Delivering on the right track" | [15] | |
| CDS–PP | « Este é o momento » | "This is the moment" | [16] | |
| PS | « Coragem para mudar » | "Courage to change" | [17] | |
| JPP | « Dar voz aos Madeirenses » | "Giving voice to Madeirans" | [18] | |
| BE | « A Madeira para todos » | "Madeira for all" | [19] | |
| CDU | « CDU, o voto que conta » | "CDU, the vote that counts" | [20] | |
Opinion polls
    
    Graphical summary
    
Polling
    
Exit poll
| Polling firm/Link | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | .png.webp) |  | .png.webp) | JPP | _(Letras).png.webp) |  |  | .png.webp) | .png.webp) | .png.webp) | O | Lead | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Regional Election | 22 Sep 2019 | — | 55.5% | 39.4 21 | 5.8 3 | 35.8 19 | 5.5 3 | 1.8 1 | 1.7 0 | 1.0 0 | 1.5 0 | 0.4 0 | 0.5 0 | 6.6 0 | 3.6 | 
| UCP-CESOP | 22 Sep 2019 | 6,000 | ? | 37–41 19/23 | 5–7 2/3 | 34–38 17/21 | 3–5 1/2 | 1–3 0/1 | 1–3 0/1 | - | 1–2 0/1 | - | - | - | 3 | 
| Eurosondagem | 15–17 Sep 2019 | 1,525 | ? | 36.0 19 | 8.0 4 | 33.6 17/18 | 2.5 1 | 4.5 2 | 4.0 2 | 0.7 0 | ? 0/1 | - | ? 0/1 | 10.7 0/1 | 2.4 | 
| Intercampus | 2–16 Sep 2019 | 1,503 | ? | 39.0 21 | 9.3 5 | 33.1 17 | 3.4 1 | 3.9 2 | 2.2 1 | - | - | - | - | 9.1 0 | 5.9 | 
| UCP-CESOP | 14–15 Sep 2019 | 1,375 | ? | 38 19/23 | 5 2/3 | 29 14/18 | 4 2/3 | 3 1/2 | 5 2/3 | - | 2 1 | 1.5 0/1 | 1.5 0/1 | 11 0 | 9 | 
| Eurosondagem | 21–24 Jul 2019 | 1,519 | ? | 33.3 18/19 | 7.1 3/4 | 31.9 17/18 | 4.2 2 | 4.0 2 | 6.9 3/4 | 0.5 0 | - | - | - | 12.0 0/1 | 1.4 | 
| 2019 EP Elections | 26 May 2019 | — | 38.5 | 37.2 | 8.1 | 25.8 | — | 3.0 | 5.3 | 1.3 | 3.7 | — | 1.6 | 14.0 | 11.4 | 
| CDS-PP internal | 8 Feb 2019 | ? | ? | 36.0 19/20 | 8.0 4/5 | 33.0 18/19 | 4.0 2 | 3.0 1 | 3.0 1 | 2.0 0/1 | - | - | - | 11.0 0 | 3.0 | 
| Eurosondagem | 14–17 Jan 2019 | 1,510 | ? | 34.7 18/19 | 8.0 4 | 36.9 19/20 | 4.8 2 | 3.6 1/2 | 4.0 2 | 0.9 0 | - | - | - | 7.1 0 | 2.2 | 
| Eurosondagem | 26–28 Nov 2018 | 748 | ? | 34.2 18 | 10.6 5 | 33.9 18 | 6.5 3 | 3.4 1 | 4.0 2 | 1.6 0 | - | - | - | 5.8 0 | 0.3 | 
| Intercampus | 21–26 Nov 2018 | 400 | ? | ? 19 | ? 2 | ? 23 | ? 2 | ? 1 | ? 0 | ? 0 | ? 0 | ? 0 | ? 0 | ? 0 | ? | 
| Eurosondagem | 19–24 Jul 2018 | 1,018 | ? | 36.3 18/19 | 7.1 3/4 | 35.7 18/19 | 6.0 3 | 4.8 2 | 3.9 2 | 1.2 0 | - | - | [lower-alpha 5] | 5.0 0 | 0.6 | 
| Eurosondagem | 5–7 Feb 2018 | 1,018 | ? | 38.5 20/21 | 5.9 3 | 33.2 17/18 | 6.8 3 | 3.1 1 | 4.9 2 | 1.4 0 | - | - | 6.2 0 | 5.3 | |
| Eurosondagem | 22–24 Oct 2017 | 1,017 | ? | 36.3 19 | 6.0 3 | 33.6 17 | 6.5 3 | 4.5 2 | 4.1 2 | 2.1 1 | - | - | 6.9 0 | 2.7 | |
| 2017 Local Elections | 1 Oct 2017 | — | 54.2 | 33.6 | 9.1 | 29.1 | 10.2 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 1.7 | — | 0.6 | 12.6 | 4.5 | |
| Eurosondagem | 7–9 Jun 2017 | 1,010 | ? | 40.4 21/22 | 5.4 2/3 | 30.0 15/16 | 4.7 2 | 4.9 2 | 5.9 2 | 1.9 2 | - | - | 6.8 0 | 10.4 | |
| Eurosondagem | 14–16 Mar 2017 | 1,017 | ? | 38.0 20/21 | 8.6 4 | 27.2 14/15 | 4.1 2 | 5.0 2/3 | 6.93 | 1.3 – | - | - | 8.90 | 10.8 | |
| 2015 Legislative Election | 4 Oct 2015 | — | 48.9 | 37.8 | 6.0 | 20.9 | 6.9 | 3.6 | 10.7 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 13.5 | 16.9 | |
| 2015 Regional Election | 29 Mar 2015 | — | 49.6 | 44.4 24 | 13.7 7 | 11.4[lower-alpha 2] 5 | 10.3 5 | 5.5 2 | 3.8 2 | [lower-alpha 2] 1 | [lower-alpha 2] 0 | [lower-alpha 2] 0 | 10.9 1 | 30.7 | |
Voter turnout
    
The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day.
| Turnout | Time | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | 16:00 | 19:00 | |||||||
| 2015 | 2019 | ± | 2015 | 2019 | ± | 2015 | 2019 | ± | |
| Total | 17.21% | 20.97% |  3.76 pp | 37.48% | 40.79% |  3.31 pp | 49.58% | 55.50% |  5.92 pp | 
| Sources[22][23] | |||||||||
Results
    
On election night, the centre-right PSD and national-conservative CDS said they were willing to form a coalition government.[24]
|  | ||||||||||
| Parties | Votes | % | ±pp swing | MPs | MPs %/ votes % | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2019 | ± | % | ± | ||||||
| Social Democratic | 56,449 | 39.42 |  4.9 | 24 | 21 |  3 | 44.68 |  6.4 | 1.13 | |
| Socialist | 51,207 | 35.76 | [lower-alpha 2] | 5 | 19 |  14 | 40.43 |  29.8 | 1.13 | |
| People's | 8,246 | 5.76 |  8.0 | 7 | 3 |  4 | 6.38 |  8.5 | 1.11 | |
| Together for the People | 7,830 | 5.47 |  4.8 | 5 | 3 |  2 | 6.38 |  4.3 | 1.17 | |
| Unitary Democratic Coalition | 2,577 | 1.80 |  3.7 | 2 | 1 |  1 | 2.13 |  2.1 | 1.18 | |
| Left Bloc | 2,489 | 1.74 |  2.1 | 2 | 0 |  2 | 0.00 |  4.2 | 0.0 | |
| People-Animals-Nature | 2,095 | 1.46 | [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 0 |  0 | 0.00 |  0.0 | 0.0 | |
| United Party of Retirees and Pensioners | 1,766 | 1.23 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | 0.0 | |
| React, Include, Recycle | 1,749 | 1.22 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | 0.0 | |
| Labour | 1,426 | 1.00 | [lower-alpha 2] | 1 | 0 |  1 | 0.00 |  2.1 | 0.0 | |
| Alliance | 766 | 0.53 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | 0.0 | |
| Liberal Initiative | 762 | 0.53 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | 0.0 | |
| CHEGA | 619 | 0.43 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | 0.0 | |
| Democratic Republican | 603 | 0.42 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | 0.0 | |
| Portuguese Workers' Communist | 601 | 0.42 |  1.3 | 0 | 0 |  0 | 0.00 |  0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Earth | 507 | 0.35 | [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 0 |  0 | 0.00 |  0.0 | 0.0 | |
| National Renovator | 274 | 0.19 |  0.6 | 0 | 0 |  0 | 0.00 |  0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Total valid | 139,966 | 97.74 |  2.1 | 47 | 47 |  0 | 100.00 |  0.0 | — | |
| Blank ballots | 700 | 0.49 |  0.5 | |||||||
| Invalid ballots | 2,534 | 1.77 |  1.6 | |||||||
| Total | 143,200 | 100.00 | ||||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 258,005 | 55.50 |  5.8 | |||||||
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições | ||||||||||
Maps
    
 Most voted political force by parish. Most voted political force by parish.
See also
    
    
Notes
    
- The leader of the PS-Madeira is Emanuel Câmara, but he has nominated the mayor of Funchal, Paulo Cafôfo, as the PS candidate for the Presidency of the Madeira Government.
- PS, PTP, PAN and MPT contested the 2015 election in an electoral coalition called Change which received 11.4% of the vote.
- The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" (PEV) contested the 2015 election jointly as the Unitary Democratic Coalition, and won a combined 5.5% of the vote and elected 2 MPs to parliament.
- Roberto Vieira is a former Earth Party (MPT) member.
- Did not exist.
References
    
- "Marcelo anuncia eleições legislativas em 6 de outubro", Sapo 24, 7 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- PSD ganha eleições na Madeira mas perde maioria absoluta. PS dispara, Jornal de Negócios, 22 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- Comissão Nacional de Eleições - Eleição para a Assembleia Legislativa da Região Autónoma da Madeira 2007
- Sorteio das Candidaturas - ALRAM 2019, Comissão Nacional de Eleições, 14 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Legislativas 2019: Filipe Rebelo é candidato do PDR às regionais na Madeira e às legislativas, Sapo24, 23 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Eleições na Madeira: Chega diz que vai ser governo na região “custe o que custar”, Sapo24, 19 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Eleições na Madeira: PNR defende redução de deputados de 47 para 30, Sapo24, 19 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Eleições na Madeira: PAN ressurge na região e quer eleger dois deputados, Sapo24, 20 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Eleições na Madeira: Aliança considera “estruturante” a eleição de um grupo parlamentar, Sapo24, 20 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Eleições na Madeira: MPT quer ressurgir e eleger representação parlamentar, Sapo24, 20 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Eleições na Madeira: PCTP/MRPP assume-se como o “partido dos pobres” e contra os “usurpadores” da autonomia, Sapo24, 21 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Iniciativa Liberal quer eliminar cargo de Representante da República, Sapo24, 23 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Eleições na Madeira: PURP promete “envolver as pessoas” e “lutar ferozmente” contra os lóbis, Sapo24, 22 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- Eleições na Madeira: RIR estreia-se com receio de ser prejudicado por candidato ter sido do MPT, Sapo24, 22 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- "ELEIÇÕES REGIONAIS DA MADEIRA DE 2019 – PSD". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- "ELEIÇÕES REGIONAIS DA MADEIRA DE 2019 – CDS". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- "ELEIÇÕES REGIONAIS DA MADEIRA DE 2019 – PS". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- "ELEIÇÕES REGIONAIS DA MADEIRA DE 2019 – JPP". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- "ELEIÇÕES REGIONAIS DA MADEIRA DE 2019 – BE". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- "ELEIÇÕES REGIONAIS DA MADEIRA DE 2019 – CDU". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- "Eleições da Madeira - Debates". RTP Madeira (in Portuguese). 19 September 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- "Regionais 2019 - Afluência". eleicoes.mai.gov.pt/regionais2019/index.html (in Portuguese). Ministry of Internal Administration. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- "Regionais 2015 - Afluência". eleicoes.mai.gov.pt/regionais2015/index.html (in Portuguese). Ministry of Internal Administration. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- Miguel Albuquerque admite "coligação de governo" com CDS-PP , Jornal de Negócios, 22 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.


