Hospitalized patients and prisoners can register to vote in advance in the presidential elections on January 18th from Monday, and early mobility voting can be requested from January 4th.
According to the page of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration (SGMAI) for this purpose – www.votoantecipado.pt – voters who are ill on January 18th and admitted to hospital establishments, as well as those who are in prison, may request to exercise their right to vote in advance, in www.votoantecipado.ptor by post to SGMAI, “upon availability of the corresponding document proving the impediment”, between December 8th and 29th.
In these cases, voting takes place between January 5th and 8th, according to the Voter Portal, and those registered must wait, “on a previously announced day and time, for the presence of the President of the City Council, or his representative”, at the hospital or prison establishment, to exercise their right to vote.
Regarding early voting on mobility, “its possibility was expanded, allowing its exercise to all registered voters in the national territory on the seventh day before the elections (Sunday), at an early voting table, to be set up in each municipality, chosen by the voter”says SGMAI, and to do so you must register on the platform or by post between January 4th and 8th.
For these cases, one week before the elections, on January 11, “there will be an early voting table in each municipality on the continent and in the Autonomous Regions”.
There is also the possibility of early voting for voters traveling abroad, in cases where this happens “as a result of the exercise of public or private functions”, “in official representation of a national team, organized by a sports federation with public sporting utility status”, “as a student, researcher, teacher and research fellow at a higher education institution, research unit or similar recognized by the competent ministry”, if you are sick under treatment or “if you live with or accompany the voters mentioned in the four previous points”.
In these cases, voting takes place between January 6th and 8th and voters must present themselves at diplomatic, consular representations or external delegations of Portuguese public institutions, previously defined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a Citizen Card, Identity Card or other identifying document, such as a driving license or passport.
The first time there were early voting tables in all municipalities in the country was during the January 2021 presidential elections, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in Portugal. At that time, 246,880 voters registered to vote in advance on mobility, having actually voted a week earlier, 197,903 people, which corresponds to around 80.15%, according to data sent to Lusa by MAI.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, scheduled the presidential elections for January 18, 2026, with a possible second round, which by law takes place three weeks later, possibly on February 8.
For the presidential elections, among others, António Filipe (with the support of the PCP), António José Seguro (supported by the PS), André Ventura (supported by Chega), Catarina Martins (supported by BE), Henrique Gouveia e Melo, João Cotrim Figueiredo (supported by the Liberal Initiative), Jorge Pinto (supported by Livre) and Luís Marques Mendes (with the support of the PSD) announced their candidacies.
There are over 40 citizens registered on the Candidacy Portal, the Ministry of Internal Administration’s website where they can collect signatures, including André Pestana, Manuela Magno, Joana Amaral Dias, Vitorino Silva and Raul Perestrelo.