2004 European Parliament election in Portugal
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An election of MEPs representing Portugal for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament was held on 13 June 2004. It was part of the wider 2004 European election.
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13 June 2004
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24 seats to the European Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 38.6%  1.3 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Socialist Party (PS) was the big winner of the election, achieving their best result in a European election ever. The party won 44.5 percent of the votes, an increase of 1.5 percentage points, and held on to the 12 seats won in 1999. However the Socialist victory, and the campaign overall, was overshadowed by the sudden death of the PS top candidate, António Sousa Franco. Sousa Franco died of a heart attack while campaigning in Matosinhos, just four days before election day. António Costa, number 2 on the list, became the Socialists' top candidate after Sousa Franco's death.
The Social Democrats (PSD) and the People's Party (CDS–PP) contested the election in a coalition called "Forward Portugal" (FP). The coalition had a very weak performance, winning just 33 percent of the votes, a big drop compared with the combined total of 39 percent the PSD+CDS had in 1999. The PSD lost two seats, while CDS–PP held on to their two seats.
The Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) dropped one point and fell below 10 percent of the votes for the first time. CDU was still able to hold on to the two seats they had won in 1999. The Left Bloc (BE) gained a seat for the EU parliament for the first time, and saw its share of vote increase to almost 5 percent, an increase of more than 3 percentage points compared with 1999.
Turnout dropped compared with 1999, with 38.6 percent of voters casting a ballot.
Electoral system
The voting method used for the election of European members of parliament, is proportional representation using the d'Hondt method, which is known to benefit the largest parties slightly. In the 2004 EU elections, Portugal had 24 seats to be filled. Deputies are elected in a single constituency, corresponding to the entire national territory.
Parties and candidates
The major parties that partook in the election, and their EP list leaders, were:[1]
- Left Bloc (BE), Miguel Portas
- Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU), Ilda Figueiredo
- Social Democratic Party (PSD)/People's Party (CDS–PP) Forward Portugal (FP), João de Deus Pinheiro
- Earth Party (MPT), Luís Filipe Marques
- Movement for the Sick (MD), Vitorino Brandão
- Portuguese Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP), António Garcia Pereira
- New Democracy Party (PND), Manuel Monteiro
- Democratic Party of the Atlantic (PDA), José Soares
- National Renewal Party (PNR), Paulo Rodrigues
- Socialist Party (PS), António Costa[2]
- People's Monarchist Party (PPM), Gonçalo da Câmara Pereira
- Workers' Party of Socialist Unity (POUS), Carmelinda Pereira
Campaign period
Party slogans
| Party or alliance | Original slogan | English translation | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS | « Queremos um Portugal melhor » | "We want a better Portugal" | [3] | |
| FP | « Força Portugal! » | "Forward Portugal!" | [4] | |
| CDU | « Outro caminho para a Europa e para Portugal » | "Another path for Europe and Portugal" | [5] | |
| BE | « Estás farto? » | "Had enough?" | [6] | |
Candidates' debates
One last debate between the four main candidates was expected to be held on RTP on 10 June, but it was cancelled after the sudden death of the PS lead candidate António Sousa Franco on 9 June. Parties also cut short their campaigns.[7]
| 2004 European Parliament election in Portugal debates | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | P Present A Absent invitee N Non-invitee | ||||||||||||||||||
| PS S. Franco |
FP Pinheiro |
CDU Figueiredo |
BE Portas |
Refs | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 June | SIC Notícias | Clara de Sousa | P | P | P | P | [8] | ||||||||||||||
| 8 June | SIC Notícias | Clara de Sousa | P | P | N | N | [9] | ||||||||||||||
Opinion polling
Exit poll
| Polling firm/Link | Date Released |  |
 |
 |
 |
O | Lead | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 | |||||||
| 2004 EP election | 13 June 2004 | 44.5 12 |
33.3 9 |
9.1 2 |
4.9 1 |
8.2 0 |
11.2 | |
| UCP | 13 June 2004 | 43–47 12/13 |
32–36 8/9 |
8–10 2/3 |
4–6 1 |
— |
11 | |
| Eurosondagem | 13 June 2004 | 44.1–47.9 12/13 |
29.7–33.5 8/9 |
10.1–11.9 2/3 |
5.1–6.9 1 |
— |
14.4 | |
| Intercampus | 13 June 2004 | 42.3–47.1 12/13 |
30.5–35.1 8/9 |
7.3–10.1 2 |
4.7–6.9 1 |
— |
11.8 12.0 | |
| Aximage | 11 June 2004 | 40.3 | 39.8 | 8.3 | 6.2 | 5.5 | 0.5 | |
| UCP | 11 June 2004 | 44 | 37 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| Eurosondagem | 11 June 2004 | 43.3 | 37.8 | 7.7 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.5 | |
| Intercampus | 11 June 2004 | 42.4 | 27.5 | 12.6 | 6.7 | 10.9 | 14.9 | |
| Marktest | 9 June 2004 | 49.2 | 37.4 | 6.3 | 5.0 | 2.1 | 11.8 | |
| Aximage | 5 June 2004 | 39.2 11/12 |
34.5 9/10 |
7.9 2 |
2.4 1 |
16.0 0 |
4.7 | |
| Aximage | 25 May 2004 | 39.5 | 33.6 | 8.3 | 4.0 | 14.6 | 5.9 | |
| TNS Euroteste | 20 May 2004 | 34 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 25 | Tie | |
| Marktest[a] | 19 May 2004 | 49.2 | 34.8 | 8.1 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 14.4 | |
| UCP | 14 May 2004 | 44.3 | 40.7 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 3.6 | |
| Aximage | 7 May 2004 | 40.5 11 |
35.8 9 |
6.1 1 |
3.3 0 |
14.3 0 |
4.7 | |
| Marktest | 29 March 2004 | 54.7 | 34.5 | 5.5 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 20.2 | |
| Eurosondagem | 19 March 2004 | 37.0 11 |
37.6 11 |
5.8 1 |
4.3 1 |
15.3 0 |
0.6 | |
| Aximage | 7 March 2004 | 39.2 10 |
39.7 11 |
7.0 2 |
3.7 1 |
10.4 0 |
0.5 | |
| 1999 EP election | 13 June 1999 | 43.1 12 |
31.1 9 |
8.2 2 |
10.3 2 |
1.8 0 |
5.6 0 |
12.0 |
Results
 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party and European Parliament group | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | |||
| Socialist Party | PES | 1,516,001 | 44.53 | +1.45 | 12 | 0 | ||
| Forward Portugal | EPP–ED | 1,132,769 | 33.27 | –6.00 | 9 | –2 | ||
| Unitary Democratic Coalition | GUE/NGL | 309,401 | 9.09 | –1.23 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Left Bloc | GUE/NGL | 167,313 | 4.91 | +3.12 | 1 | +1 | ||
| Portuguese Workers' Communist Party | NI | 36,294 | 1.07 | +0.19 | 0 | 0 | ||
| New Democracy Party | NI | 33,833 | 0.99 | New | 0 | New | ||
| People's Monarchist Party | NI | 15,454 | 0.45 | –0.02 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Movement for the Sick | NI | 13,840 | 0.41 | New | 0 | New | ||
| Earth Party | ALDE | 13,671 | 0.40 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Humanist Party | NI | 13,272 | 0.39 | New | 0 | New | ||
| National Renewal Party | NI | 8,405 | 0.25 | New | 0 | New | ||
| Democratic Party of the Atlantic | NI | 5,588 | 0.16 | +0.01 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Workers' Party of Socialist Unity | NI | 4,275 | 0.13 | –0.03 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 3,270,116 | 100.00 | – | 24 | –1 | |||
| Valid votes | 3,270,116 | 96.04 | –0.70 | |||||
| Invalid votes | 47,224 | 1.39 | –0.05 | |||||
| Blank votes | 87,442 | 2.57 | +0.74 | |||||
| Total votes | 3,404,782 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 8,821,456 | 38.60 | –1.33 | |||||
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições | ||||||||
Distribution by European group
| Groups | Parties | Seats | Total | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party of European Socialists (PES) |
|
12 | 12 | 50.00 | |
| European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP–ED) |
|
7 2 |
9 | 37.50 | |
| European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) |
|
2 1 |
3 | 12.50 | |
| Total | 24 | 24 | 100.00 | ||
Maps
Strongest party by municipality. Pink: PS; Darkblue: PSD-CDS; Red: CDU
See also
Notes
- Results presented here exclude undecideds (34.7%) and abstainers (14.0%). With their inclusion results are: PS: 26.2%; PSD/CDS-PP: 18.5%; CDU: 4.3%; BE: 2,2%; Blank: 2.0%.