Polling stations in mainland Portugal and the Madeira archipelago closed this Sunday at 7:00 PM local time in the legislative elections to renew the 230 deputies of the unicameral Assembly of the Republic (Parliament), from which a new Government will emerge.

RELATED:

Turn Out in Portugal’s Legislative Elections Is 48.28% Until Mid-Afternoon

In the case of the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, polling stations will close 60 minutes later due to being in a different time zone.

According to data released by the Ministry of Internal Administration (Interior Ministry), voter turnout was 48.28% until 4:00 PM local time , a lower figure than that recorded in last year’s elections, when it was 48.28% until the same time.

More than 10.8 million voters were called to vote at 12,604 polling stations nationwide, including the option of early voting for those with reduced mobility or who could not attend their polling stations on election day.

The polls give AD, the coalition of the acting prime minister, Luís Montenegro (centre-right), as the favorite, followed by the Socialist Party (PS) of Pedro Nuno Santos and the ultra-rightist Chega of André Ventura.

Today’s election comes after the Executive lost a vote of confidence in Parliament in March, due to the publication in the media of the existence of a company, Spinumviva, in the hands of his family, that he would have received payments from other companies where the Prime Minister previously worked.

The final stretch of the campaign has been marked by the health problems of far-right leader André Ventura, who had to be hospitalized twice this week after feeling unwell during two campaign events.

After undergoing a catheterization on Thursday, Ventura himself revealed that the doctors’ diagnosis “seems to point to an esophageal spasm.”

According to the poll published on Thursday by the media outlets Público, RTP, and Antena 1, conducted by the Catholic University, Montenegro’s coalition, AD, would win with 34% of the vote, compared to 26% for the socialists; followed by Chega, with 19% of the voting intention; and Iniciativa Liberal (IL) would be the fourth political force with 7%.

The number of undecided voters, according to that poll, would be 12%, and those who said they were going to vote or had already voted in advance are 81%.

IN THIS ARTICLE