In Portugal there are over 300 councils and more than 3,000 parish councils, in which political officials are elected every four years - the last elections took place in 2017.
This year, comparing to the total number of voters, there are only 0.3 percent of expats registered on the electoral roll with Lisbon and Faro having the largest number of foreign voters.
In this electoral act, citizens will not only choose their mayors, but also the representatives for the Municipal Assembly and the authorities of the parish council. That's why those who decide to vote this Sunday, on 26 September, will find three ballot papers in different colours - green for City Council; yellow for the Municipal Assembly; and white for the Parish council. The ballot papers do not have a picture of the candidates, only the name of the parties they represent and their symbol (flag).
Therefore, the voter number no longer exists, which means that in order to exercise your right to vote, you only need to appear at the polling station with your identification document.
Where is my polling station?
If you don’t know where your polling station is, you can find it out following one of these three steps – go to your parish council or town hall and ask directly in person. Or text the following message: RE <space> Civil identification number <space> date of birth in YYYYMMDD format (example: RE 12345678 19531007) and send it over to 3838 (free of charge). In addition, you can fill your personal data in this institutional portal at: https://www.recenseamento.mai.gov.pt/
Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252
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