Local elections were held in Portugal on Sunday, 12 December 1976. They were the first local elections in Portugal. The democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power, that should be exerted by the citizens in their towns and cities. These elections ended a cycle of three elections in 1976, after the 1976 legislative election in April and the 1976 Presidential election in June.
The elections were meant to elect for the first time the administration of the about 300 municipalities of the country and of the about 4000 parishes that composed those 300 municipalities. They consisted of three elections in each of the municipalities; the election for the municipal chamber, whose winner is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP), the election for the municipal assembly and the lower-level election for the parish assembly, whose winner is also automatically elected as President.
The Socialist Party gathered the majority of the voting and mandates, beating the Social Democratic Party, although both parties tied in number of elected mayors, 115. The Communists led coalition, the Electoral Front United People, dominated the election in the South of the country, with more than 17 percent of the votes and elected 37 mayors. The right-wing Democratic Social Center, following their strong showing in the 1976 April legislative election, achieved its best result ever in local elections, almost 17 percent of the votes and 36 mayors.
Turnout in these elections was quite low, as 64.7% of the electorate cast a ballot, compared with the 83.5% turnout rate of the 1976 general elections in April.
Parties
The main political forces involved in the election:
Most voted parties or coalitions in each Municipality. Municipalities won by: ■ - PS: 115 ■ - PSD: 115 ■ - FEPU: 37 ■ - CDS: 36 ■ - PPM: 1
City control
The following table lists party control in all district capitals, highlighted in bold, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from the 1970 Census.[1]
The number of candidacies expresses the number of municipalities or parishes in which the party or coalition presented lists.
The number of mandates expresses the number of municipal deputies in the Municipal Assembly election and the number of parish deputies in the Parish Assembly election.
The turnout varies because one may choose not to vote for all the organs.
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