Abstention in Portugal is not as high as official figures suggest

Original text from Jornal Económico

On 28 September 2025, Jornal Económico highlighted the study “Electoral Abstention in Portugal: Mechanisms, Impacts and Solutions”, published by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation and coordinated by José Santana-Pereira (Iscte) and João Cancela (NOVA University Lisbon). According to the research, actual turnout in the 2024 and 2025 legislative elections was around 75% and 73%, well above the official figures.

José Santana-Pereira explains that so-called “technical abstention” now results mainly from emigrants still registered in Portugal who have not updated their address. The study also shows that distrust of politicians, the feeling that voting changes nothing and the perception that parties are all alike are among the main reasons for abstaining.

The researchers’ recommendations include civic education from primary school, wider use of early mobile voting and a pilot test of voting at 16.

Read the full article in Jornal Económico.