According to Paulo Marques, there are several situations that can make it difficult for Portuguese citizens living abroad to vote, namely the lack of a ballot paper for postal voting and also the lack of registration on the electoral lists.
“There are those who are waiting for the ballot papers and those who are not registered on the electoral lists, either because they have changed address, or because they renewed their Citizen Card in Portugal and have not updated their address”, said Paulo Marques, who lives in France.
This Portuguese citizen recommends that voters consult the community portal to find out if they are registered and to track their ballot paper.
If these cases exist in Europe, the situation is more serious outside Europe, according to information shared by advisors from various continents.
The advisor for the Portuguese communities in East Timor, Filipe Silva, said that last week the ballot papers sent from Portugal to Portuguese citizens residing in that country and voting by post had not yet arrived at the post office in Dili.
Filipe Silva said that, with these delays, it would be difficult for votes to arrive in Portugal in time.
In Angola, envelopes with ballot papers did not reach their recipients, but this was because they were piling up on the shelves of post offices waiting for voters, as Lusa found during a round in Luanda.
Postal voting and in-person voting are the two possible methods for Portuguese citizens registered abroad to exercise their right to vote, but in order to vote in person, this option would have to be made with the respective registration committee, before the date of the election.
For Paulo Marques, any voting method for Portuguese citizens abroad is unlikely to be perfect, but a good response could involve several alternatives, including electronic voting.
In postal voting, the Portuguese Ministry of Internal Affairs sends the ballot paper to the address indicated in the registration book. The voter receives the ballot paper and two envelopes: one green and one white, which will be returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The voter must mark the voting option with a cross, then fold the ballot paper in four and place it inside the green envelope, sealing it. This green envelope must be placed inside the white envelope, together with a copy of the citizen card or identity card, and, once sealed, it must be sent by post before election day.
For the constituencies for Portuguese emigration (Europe and Outside Europe), 1,584,499 voters are registered, 37,752 more than in the last legislative elections.
In the last elections for the Assembly of the Republic, which took place last year, the PS and Chega each obtained one deputy for the Europe constituency, while the Democratic Alliance (AD) and Chega each obtained one deputy for the Outside Europe constituency.
There are 36 candidates for the 18 May election – 18 for Europe and 18 for Outside Europe.
