Voting from Abroad Database

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Portugal

Year	Election type	Voting method	First year	Comments
1997	Presidential Legislative Referendums European Parliamentary elections	Personal Postal	1975	The year 1997 marks a major change in the process of external voting in Portugal. The constitution was amended to allow Portuguese citizens residing abroad to vote in presidential elections and national referendums. 2001 marks the first year of external voting allowed for Presidential elections. The data was updated in May 2024, based on the latest amendments made to relevant legislation provided for external voting.
1986	Legislative European Parliamentary elections	Postal	1975	"Following Portugal’s entry into the European Community in 1986, external voting rights were granted for Portuguese citizens abroad to vote for the national lists for the European Parliament elections." (Voting from Abroad: The International IDEA Handbook: pages 83-85)
1974	Legislative	Postal	1975	Portugal has held free elections since the fall of the dictatorship in 1974, and since that time the voting rights of Portuguese citizens living abroad have been substantially expanded. More information can be found in the sources sections of relevant data points.

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