Portugal will have a second round of elections on February 8

Published at: 18/01/2026 11:40 PM

Portugal will hold a second round of elections on February 8 to define its new president, after no candidate won an absolute majority in the elections this Sunday.

According to data from the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration, replicated by the newspaper Última Noticias, with 95.7% of the votes counted, the candidates António José Seguro and André Ventura will compete for the head of state in a ballot that will be decided by a simple majority.

António José Seguro, of the center-left Socialist Party, led the day with 30.6% of the votes. He was followed by the leader of the Chega party, André Ventura, who reached 24.3%. In third place was Joao Cotrim de Figueiredo, from the Liberal Initiative, with 15.5%, while the independent candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo closed the main block with 12.2%.

In accordance with the Constitution of Portugal, the president is elected by direct popular vote and requires more than 50% of the valid votes to win in the first instance.

This second-round scenario has been unprecedented in the Portuguese country for four decades, marking a milestone in recent democratic history.

Mazo News Team