Lisbon – Archyde.com
Portuguese voters cast their ballots Sunday in the parliamentary elections, although there is no clear winner in sight and uncertainty increases, due to the possibility of low turnout, amid a record rise in the number of Corona virus infections.
Polling stations opened their doors at eight in the morning. At the University of Lisbon, staff outnumbered voters, the majority of whom were elderly, and signs were placed on the walls asking people to wear masks, observe social distancing, and use their own pens to vote.
Some also wore gloves for extra protection.
Maria Odete, 73, said: “I received the vaccination, and I have not contracted the Corona virus yet. But I felt very safe,” she said, adding that the positions in the election race were too close to produce a stable government capable of bringing regarding positive change.
The government allowed the injured to leave the isolation and cast their votes themselves, and recommended that this be in the last hour before polling stations closed, pledging “absolute safety” during voting.
It is estimated that more than one-tenth of Portugal’s 10 million people have been quarantined due to COVID-19.
The outcome of the election is shrouded in uncertainty, following the ruling centre-left Socialist Party lost support in opinion polls to the main opposition party, and neither is likely to win a large majority.
The elections were called last November, following parliament rejected the draft budget of the minority socialist government.
The elections are likely to exacerbate political volatility and may result in a short-lived government, unless one of the major parties succeeds in forming a coalition.