2011 Portuguese presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 23 January 2011. The elections resulted in the re-election of Aníbal Cavaco Silva to a second term as President of Portugal. Turnout in this election was very low, where only 46.52 percent of the electorate cast their ballots. Cavaco Silva won by a landslide winning all 18 districts, both Autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira and 292 municipalities of a total of 308.

Background
During the 2006 presidential elections, former Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva, the only candidate of the center-right had won the ballot in the first round with 50.5 percent of the votes cast. He had faced two particular candidates from the ruling Socialist Party, the official candidate Mário Soares, former President of the Republic came in third with 14.3 percent, Manuel Alegre, a dissident, ranked second with 20.7 percent of votes. This historic victory of a conservative candidate, the first after the Carnation Revolution, inaugurated a period of "political cohabitation" with Socialist Prime Minister José Sócrates.

The general elections of September 2009 confirmed this situation, and brought the PS once again to power, however depriving them of an absolute majority. The situation of economic and financial crisis that the country was facing led to the adoption of an austerity plan and budget for more frequent intervention of the Head of State in politics to promote agreement among political parties in the country.

Electoral system
Any Portuguese citizen over 35 years old has the opportunity to run for president. In order to do so it is necessary to gather between 7,500 and 15,000 signatures and submit them to the Portuguese Constitutional Court.

According to the Portuguese Constitution, to be elected, a candidate needs a simple majority (50% + 1). If no candidate gets this majority there is a second round between the two most voted candidates.

Official candidates
Social Democratic Party, People's Party, Hope for Portugal Movement Socialist Party, Left Bloc, Portuguese Workers' Communist Party, Democratic Party of the Atlantic Ecologist Party "The Greens"
 * Aníbal Cavaco Silva: President since 2006 and eligible for a second term. Supported by:
 * Manuel Alegre: Former member of the Assembly of the Republic. Supported by:
 * Fernando Nobre: Independent.
 * Defensor Moura: Member of the Socialist Party and former mayor of Viana do Castelo, running as an independent.
 * Francisco Lopes: Supported by: Portuguese Communist Party,
 * José Manuel Coelho: Independent, supported by the New Democracy Party.

Unsuccessful candidacies

 * Luís Botelho Ribeiro: Leader of the Pro-life party. His application was formalised on Monday, 20 December, with over 8,000 signatures. His candidacy was analysed by the Constitutional Court. On 29 December, the court concluded that his candidacy did not meet the requirements provided by law.
 * José Ribeiro e Castro: Member of the Democratic and Social Centre – People´s Party, speculated to run as an alternative right-wing candidate, because of Cavaco's decision to approve same-sex marriage. However, he did not go forward with his candidacy.
 * José Pinto Coelho: Leader of the far-right National Renovator Party. He declared that his candidacy for the presidency was "cut short" by failing to gather the 7,500 signatures required. He claimed to have gathered 5,878 signatures.

Voter turnout
The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day including voters from Overseas.