electionstracker

Portugal 1983 legislative election

What was the result of the 1983 legislative election in Portugal?

Socialist Party won 101 of 250 seats with 37.1% of the vote. 77.8% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Portugal
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Socialist Party won 101 of 250 seats with 37.1% of the vote; 77.8% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 6.2 points on 1980.

  • Socialist Party 101 +35 seats 37.1% +9.3 points
  • Social Democratic Party 75 −7 seats 28.0%
  • United People Alliance 0 0 seats 18.6% +1.4 points
  • CDS – People's Party 30 −16 seats 12.9%
  • Christian Democratic Party 0 0.7%
  • Portuguese Communist Party 40 +1 seat
  • Portuguese Democratic Movement 3 +1 seat
  • Ecology Party -- Greens 1
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Portugal 1980 legislative election, party by party.

126 of 250 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 37.1%

    Share of the vote won by Socialist Party

    Socialist Party won 101 of 250 seats. A majority needs 126.

  2. +35 seats

    Seats gained by Socialist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1980. CDS – People's Party lost 16 seats.

  3. 77.8%

    Voter turnout

    Down 6.2 points on 1980.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Socialist Party101+3537.1+9.32,061,309
Social Democratic Party75−728.01,554,804
United People Alliance0018.6+1.41,031,609
CDS – People's Party30−1612.9716,705
Christian Democratic Party00.739,180
Portuguese Communist Party40+1
Portuguese Democratic Movement3+1
Ecology Party -- Greens1

± is the change against the Portugal 1980 legislative election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Socialist Party 2,061,309
  • Social Democratic Party 1,554,804
  • United People Alliance 1,031,609
  • CDS – People's Party 716,705
  • Christian Democratic Party 39,180
  • Portuguese Communist Party
  • Portuguese Democratic Movement
  • Ecology Party -- Greens

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

77.8% of the 7,337,064 registered voters cast a ballot (5,707,695 ballots), down 6.2 points on 1980. 5,560,925 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1975.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Socialist Party37.1% of votes40.4% of seats
  • Social Democratic Party28.0% of votes30.0% of seats
  • CDS – People's Party12.9% of votes12.0% of seats
  • United People Alliance18.6% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 17.6 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.8 by votes and 3.4 by seats; Socialist Party led Social Democratic Party by 9.1 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of