A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Lisbon, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. Portugal holds a presidential election Sunday, choosing a head of state to serve a five-year term.
More than a dozen ambulances queue waiting to hand over their COVID-19 patients to medics at the Santa Maria hospital in Lisbon, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Portugal's COVID-19 surge is continuing unabated, with a new record of daily deaths, hospitalizations and patients in intensive care.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announces that he will be running for reelection in the Jan. 24 presidential election, in Lisbon, Portugal, Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. Portugal holds a presidential election on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021 and the moderate incumbent candidate is widely seen as the sure winner. But an intriguing question for many Portuguese is how well a brash new populist challenger fares in the ballot. Mainstream populism is a novelty in Portugal.
A woman walks in front of an election campaign billboard for presidential candidate Andre Ventura, with the slogan "A president without fear of the system", in Lisbon, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Portugal holds a presidential election upcoming Sunday.
FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021 file photo, Rosa Gordo, 89, hands her presidential election ballot to municipal workers in protective gear at the elderly care home where she resides in Montijo, south of Lisbon. Portugal holds a presidential election on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021 and the moderate incumbent candidate is widely seen as the sure winner. But an intriguing question for many Portuguese is how well a brash new populist challenger fares in the ballot. Mainstream populism is a novelty in Portugal.
A woman walks past election campaign posters for presidential candidate Ana Gomes, in Lisbon, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.Portugal holds a presidential election on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021 and the moderate incumbent candidate is widely seen as the sure winner. But an intriguing question for many Portuguese is how well a brash new populist challenger fares in the ballot. Mainstream populism is a novelty in Portugal.
An election official picks up a paper ballot at a polling station in Lisbon, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. Portugal holds a presidential election Sunday, choosing a head of state to serve a five-year term.
Portuguese President, and candidate for reelection, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa speaks to journalists after voting at a polling station in Celorico de Basto, northern Portugal, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. Portugal holds a presidential election Sunday, choosing a head of state to serve a five-year term.
Portuguese President, and candidate for reelection, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, center left, talks with a local councilman outside a polling station after voting in Celorico de Basto, northern Portugal, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. Portugal holds a presidential election Sunday, choosing a head of state to serve a five-year term.
Portuguese President, and candidate for reelection, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa casts his ballot at a polling station in Celorico de Basto, northern Portugal, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. Portugal holds a presidential election Sunday, choosing a head of state to serve a five-year term.
Portuguese President, and candidate for reelection, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa gets in his car after voting at a polling station in Celorico de Basto, northern Portugal, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. Portugal holds a presidential election Sunday, choosing a head of state to serve a five-year term.
Portuguese President, and candidate for reelection, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa casts his ballot at a polling station in Celorico de Basto, northern Portugal, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. Portugal holds a presidential election Sunday, choosing a head of state to serve a five-year term.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa casts his ballot at a polling station in Lisbon, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. Portugal holds a presidential election Sunday, choosing a head of state to serve a five-year term.
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s president was returned to office for a second term Sunday, in an election held amid a devastating COVID-19 surge that has made the European country the worst in the world for cases and deaths.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa captured 61.5% of the vote, with 98.5% of districts reporting. He had been widely expected to win.
In a stunning development, newly arrived right-wing populist André Ventura was in a close race for second place with Socialist candidate Ana Gomes, with both polling around 12%.
Such a showing for Ventura would have been unthinkable until recently and will send a shudder through Portuguese politics.
Four other candidates ran for head of state.
Rebelo de Sousa, a center-right moderate and former leader of Portugal’s Social Democratic Party, will serve a second and final 5-year term.
One of the re-elected president’s first tasks will be to decide next month whether to approve a new law allowing euthanasia. Parliament has passed the bill, but the head of state could try to block it or send it to the Constitutional Court for vetting.
The turnout was less than 40% — significantly lower than in recent elections and apparently confirming concerns that some people would stay away for fear of becoming infected with COVID-19. Political leaders said that when the pandemic began to worsen there was no longer enough time to change the Portuguese Constitution to allow the election’s postponement.
Portugal has the world’s highest rates of new daily infections and deaths per 100,000 population, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, and its public health system is under huge strain.
Rebelo de Sousa, 72, was long viewed as the clear front-runner. He is an affable law professor and former television personality who as president has consistently had an approval rating of 60% or more.
Rebelo de Sousa has worked closely with the center-left minority Socialist government, supporting its pandemic efforts.
He also has endeared himself to the Portuguese with his easygoing style. Photographs taken by passers-by of him in public places, such as one last year of him standing in line at a supermarket wearing sneakers and shorts, routinely go viral.
With the country in lockdown, the election campaign featured none of the usual flag-waving rallies but restrictions on movement were lifted for polling day.
Authorities increased the number of polling stations and allowed for early voting to reduce crowding on election day. In other precautions, voters were asked to bring their own pens and disinfectant to polling stations. Everyone voting wore a mask and kept a safe distance from each other.
Prime Minister António Costa, in a tweet, urged people to turn out for the ballot, saying that “unprecedented planning” had gone into ensuring that the vote could take place safely.
Portugal has 10.8 million registered voters, around 1.5 million of them living abroad.
Every Portuguese president since 1976, when universal suffrage was introduced following the departure of a dictatorship, has been returned for a second term. No woman or member of an ethnic minority has ever held the post.
