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1953 Portuguese legislative election

1953 Portuguese National Assembly election
← 1949 8 November 1953 1957 →
120 seats to the National Assembly
61 seats needed for a majority
  First party
 
Oliveira Salazar, retratado por San Payo (Arquivo Municipal de Lisboa, MNV001514).png
Leader António de Oliveira Salazar
Party UN
Last election 120 seats
Seats won 120
Seat change Steady
Popular vote 845,281
Percentage 100.0%
Swing Steady
Prime Minister before election

António de Oliveira Salazar
UN

Prime Minister after election

António de Oliveira Salazar
UN

Politics of Portugal
Coat of arms of Portugal
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Elections
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations

Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal on 8 November 1953.[1] The ruling National Union won all 120 seats.[2]

Electoral system

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The elections were held using 21 multi-member constituencies and one single-member constituency covering the Azores, together electing a total of 120 members, 13 of which were from Portuguese colonies.[3]

Voters could delete names from the lists of candidates, but could not replace them.[3] Suffrage was given to all men aged 21 or over as long as they were literate or paid over 100 escudos in taxation, and to women aged over 21 if they had completed secondary education, or if they were the head of a household and met the same literacy and tax criteria as men.[3]

Campaign

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The opposition to the Estado Novo, consisting of anti-communist liberals, republicans and intellectuals, presented three lists with a total of 28 candidates in Lisbon, Oporto and Aveiro.[2] The elections were boycotted by the National Democratic Movement and the Youth Movement for Democratic Union in protest at a lack of freedom, whilst monarchists boycotted the elections except in cases where a National Union candidate was a known royalist.[2]

Results

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Party Votes % Seats
National Union 120
Opposition lists 0
Invalid/blank votes – –
Total 845,281 100 120
Registered voters/turnout 1,239,504 68.2 –
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1542 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ a b c "Elections In Portugal Opposition Candidates Defeated" The Times, 9 November 1953, p7, Issue 52774
  3. ^ a b c Nohlen & Stöver, p1535

See also

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