1969 Portuguese legislative election

1969 Portuguese National Assembly election

26 October 1969
All 130 seats of the National Assembly, elected by plurality-at-large voting 65 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Marcello Caetano Francisco Pereira de Moura Mario Soares Party UN CDE CEUD Last election 130 seats none none Seats won 130 0 0 Seat change 0 0 0 Popular vote 981,263 114,745 16,863 Percentage 88.0% 10.3% 1.5%
Prime Minister before election Marcello Caetano UN Prime Minister after election Marcello Caetano UN

Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal on 26 October 1969. The elections were announced on 12 August, and were the first under Prime Minister Marcello Caetano, appointed in the previous year to replace long-term Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar, who had been left incapacitated after a stroke. The quasi-sovereign National Union won all seats with an official turnout of 62.5%.

Electoral system

The constitution of 1933 stated that elections were to be held in all of Portugal's 18 constituencies by majority party list system, with all seats in each constituency going to the party list with a plurality of votes. In order to select a specific candidate, voters were formally able to strike out names.

The electoral law of 5 December 1958 (rearranged to allow for the National Assembly to appoint the president) guaranteed universal suffrage for all mature, literate citizens, but unofficially curtailed female participation. All natural-born nationals residing in Portugal for the previous five years were allowed to stand for election. The Chamber of Corporations, consisting of 200 members or more, was appointed by the government following the election to the National Assembly.

Although Caetano had made some effort to blunt the harsher edges of the regime, the election took place in an environment little different from the past 40 years. Numerous opposition candidates bowed out of the race prematurely due to reportedly extensive harassment and voter manipulation. After the election, the government banned the two opposition "electoral commissions" and ordered them dissolved.

Parties

The major parties involved and the respective leaders:

• Democratic Electoral Commission (CDE), Francisco Pereira de Moura
• Monarchist Electoral Commission (CEM), Henrique Barrilaro Ruas
• National Union (UN), Marcello Caetano
• United Democratic Electoral Commission (CEUD), Mário Soares

Results

Marcelo Caetano casting his ballot.

Mário Soares and his wife, Maria Barroso, casting their ballots.

Party	Votes	%	Seats
National Union	981,263	87.99	130
Democratic Electoral Commission	114,745	10.29	0
United Democratic Electoral Commission	16,863	1.51	0
Monarchist Electoral Commission	1,324	0.12	0
Invalid/blank votes	1,053	–	–
Total	1,115,248	100	130
Registered voters/turnout	1,784,341	62.5	–
Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union

See also

• Politics of Portugal
• List of political parties in Portugal
• Elections in Portugal