Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 23 January 2011. The elections resulted in the re-election of Aníbal Cavaco Silva to a second term as President of Portugal. Turnout in this election was very low, where only 46.52% of the electorate cast their ballots. Cavaco Silva won by a landslide winning all 18 districts, both Autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira and 292 municipalities of a total of 308.

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2011 Portuguese presidential election

← 2006 23 January 2011 2016 →
Opinion polls
Turnout	46.52% ( 15.01pp)
Candidate Aníbal Cavaco Silva Manuel Alegre Party PSD PS Popular vote 2,231,956 831,838 Percentage 52.95% 19.74%   PCP Candidate Fernando Nobre Francisco Lopes Party Independent PCP Popular vote 593,021 301,017 Percentage 14.07% 7.14%
Results by district Results by municipality Cavaco Silva   20-30%   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% Alegre   30-40% Lopes   30-40%   40-50% Coelho   40-50%
President before election Aníbal Cavaco Silva PSD Elected President Aníbal Cavaco Silva PSD

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During the 2006 presidential elections, former Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva, the only candidate of the center-right had won the ballot in the first round with 50.5% of the votes cast. He had faced two particular candidates from the ruling Socialist Party, the official candidate Mário Soares, former President of the Republic came in third with 14.3%, Manuel Alegre, a dissident, ranked second with 20.7% of votes. This historic victory of a conservative candidate, the first after the Carnation Revolution, inaugurated a period of "political cohabitation" with Socialist Prime Minister José Sócrates.

The general elections of September 2009 confirmed this situation, and brought the PS once again to power, however depriving them of an absolute majority. The situation of economic and financial crisis that the country was facing led to the adoption of an austerity plan and budget for more frequent intervention of the Head of State in politics to promote agreement among political parties in the country.

Any Portuguese citizen over 35 years old has the opportunity to run for president. In order to do so it is necessary to gather between 7,500 and 15,000 signatures and submit them to the Portuguese Constitutional Court.

According to the Portuguese Constitution, to be elected, a candidate needs a simple majority (50% + 1). If no candidate gets this majority there is a second round between the two most voted candidates.

The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day including voters from Overseas.

More information Turnout, Time ...

Turnout	Time
	12:00			16:00			19:00
	2006	2011	±	2006	2011	±	2006	2011	±
Total	19.32%	13.39%	5.93 pp	45.56%	35.16%	10.40 pp	61.53%	46.52%	15.01 pp
Sources[19][20]

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