2004 European Parliament election in Portugal

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2004 European Parliament election in Portugal

← 1999 13 June 2004 2009 →

24 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout38.6% Decrease 1.3 pp
  First party Second party
 
Antonio Costa.jpg
Visit of Laurent Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the EC (cropped4).jpg
Leader António Costa João de Deus Pinheiro
Party PS FP
Alliance PES EPP
Last election 12 seats 11 seats
Seats won 12 9
Seat change Steady 0 Decrease 2
Popular vote 1,516,001 1,132,769
Percentage 44.5% 33.3%
Swing Increase 1.5 pp Decrease 6.0 pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Ilda Figueiredo 2011 (cropped).jpg
MiguelPortas(2009).jpg
Leader Ilda Figueiredo Miguel Portas
Party CDU BE
Alliance GUE/NGL EACL
Last election 2 seats 0 seats
Seats won 2 1
Seat change Steady 0 Increase 1
Popular vote 309,401 167,313
Percentage 9.1% 4.9%
Swing Decrease 1.2 pp Increase 3.1 pp

The 2004 European Parliament election in Portugal was the election of MEPs representing Portugal for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election. In Portugal the election was held on 13 June.

The Socialist Party (PS) was the big winner of the elections, achieving their best result in a European election ever. The party won 44.5% of the votes, an increase of 1.5%, 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% of the votes, a big drop compared with the combined total of 39% 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 1% and fell below 10% 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%, an increase of more than 3% compared with 1999.

Turnout dropped compared with 1999, with 38.6% of voters casting a ballot.

Electoral system[edit]

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[edit]

The major parties that partook in the election, and their EP list leaders, were:[1]

Opinion polling[edit]

Date Released Polling Firm PS FP CDU BE Others Lead
13 June 2004 Election results 44.5
12 seats
33.3
9 seats
9.1
2 seats
4.9
1 seats
8.2
0 seats
11.2
13 June 2004 Exit Poll – RTP1
Universidade Católica
43.0–47.0
12 / 13
32.0–36.0
8 / 9
8.0–10.0
2 / 3
4.0–6.0
1
11.0
13 June 2004 Exit Poll – SIC
Eurosondagem
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
13 June 2004 Exit Poll – TVI
Intercampus
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
Exit polls
11 June 2004 Aximage 40.3 39.8 8.3 6.2 5.5 0.5
11 June 2004 Universidade Católica 44.0 37.0 8.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
11 June 2004 Eurosondagem 43.3 37.8 7.7 5.6 5.6 5.5
11 June 2004 Intercampus 42.4 27.5 12.6 6.7 10.9 14.9
9 June 2004 Marktest 49.2 37.4 6.3 5.0 2.1 11.8
5 June 2004 Aximage
Seat projection
39.2
11 / 12
34.5
9 / 10
7.9
2
2.4
1
16.0
4.7
25 May 2004 Aximage 39.5 33.6 8.3 4.0 14.6 5.9
20 May 2004 TNS Euroteste 34.0 34.0 4.0 3.0 25.0 Tie
19 May 2004 Marktest[a] 49.2 34.8 8.1 4.1 3.8 14.4
14 May 2004 Universidade Católica 44.3 40.7 5.4 5.2 4.4 3.6
7 May 2004 Aximage
Seat projection
40.5
11
35.8
9
6.1
1
3.3
14.3
3
4.7
29 March 2004 Marktest 54.7 34.5 5.5 2.4 3.0 20.2
19 March 2004 Eurosondagem
Seat projection
37.0
11
37.6
11
5.8
1
4.3
1
15.3
0.6
7 March 2004 Aximage
Seat projection
39.2
10
39.7
11
7.0
2
3.7
1
10.4
0.5
13 June 1999 Election results 43.1
12 seats
39.31
11 seats
10.3
2 seats
1.8
0 seats
5.6
0 seats
3.8
1 Sum of votes and seats of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and of the People's Party (CDS–PP).

National summary of votes and seats[edit]

Summary of the results of Portugal's 13 June 2004 election to the European Parliament
National party European
party
Main candidate Votes % +/– Seats +/–
Socialist Party (PS) PES António Costa 1,516,001 44.52 1.45 Increase 12 0 Steady
Forward Portugal (FP)
Social Democratic Party (PSD)
People's Party (CDS–PP)
EPP João de Deus Pinheiro 1,132,769 33.27 [3] 9
7
2

2 Decrease
0 Steady
Democratic Unitarian Coalition (CDU)
Communist Party (PCP)
Ecologist Party (PEV)
GUE/NGL Ilda Figueiredo 309,401 9.09 1.23 Decrease 2
2
0

0 Steady
0 Steady
Left Bloc (BE) EACL Miguel Portas 167,313 4.91 3.12 Increase 1 1 Increase
Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP) None António Garcia Pereira 36,294 1.07 0.19 Increase 0 0 Steady
New Democracy Party (PND) None Manuel Monteiro 33,833 0.99 new 0 new
People's Monarchist Party (PPM) ECPM Gonçalo da Câmara Pereira 15,454 0.45 0.02 Decrease 0 0 Steady
Movement for the Sick (MD) None Vitorino Brandão 13,840 0.41 new 0 new
Earth Party (MPT) ALDE Luís Filipe Marques 13,671 0.40 0.00 Steady 0 0 Steady
Humanist Party (PH) None - 13,272 0.39 new 0 new
National Renovator Party (P.N.R.) None Paulo Rodrigues 8,405 0.25 new 0 new
Democratic Party of the Atlantic (PDA) None José Soares 5,588 0.16 0.01 Increase 0 0 Steady
Workers Party of Socialist Unity (POUS) None Carmelinda Pereira 4,275 0.13 0.03 Decrease 0 0 Steady
Valid votes 3,270,116 96.04
Blank and invalid votes 134,666 3.96
Totals 3,404,782 100.00 24 1 Decrease
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 8,821,456 38.60 1.33 Decrease
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
Vote share
PS
44.52%
FP
33.27%
CDU
9.09%
BE
4.91%
PCTP/MRPP
1.07%
PND
0.99%
Others
2.19%
Blank/Invalid
3.96%
Seats
PS
50.00%
FP
37.50%
CDU
8.33%
BE
4.17%

Distribution by European group[edit]

Summary of political group distribution in the 6th European Parliament (2004–2009) [4]
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[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ 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%.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Comissão Nacional de Eleições - Deputados, Mapa Oficial nº 1/2004
  2. ^ Candidate chosen to lead the Socialist list after the unexpected death of the former head of the list António Sousa Franco.
  3. ^ The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the People's Party (CDS–PP) contested separately the 1999 election.
  4. ^ "Elecciones al Parlamento Europeo: Resultados por países 1979 - 2014". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2017.

External links[edit]

See also[edit]