Citizens' electoral group

A citizens' electoral group (, GCE) is a group of voters who put forward their own list of candidates in Portuguese local elections without belonging to a political party. Such lists are often described in the press as "independent movements". Under the local elections law, Organic Law 1/2001, lists for local offices can be presented by political parties, coalitions of parties, or citizens' electoral groups.

Citizens' groups have become the third-largest force in Portuguese local government, after the two main parties. They are represented by the National Association of Independent Local Movements (Associação Nacional dos Movimentos Autárquicos Independentes, AMAI).

History

Before 1997, citizens' groups could only stand for parish councils. The constitutional revision of 1997 let them run for all local offices, including municipal councils. This was put into law in 2001, and the local elections that year were the first in which citizens' groups could compete for mayoralties. Sources differ on how many they won in 2001. Jornal de Notícias lists two, Alcanena and Ponte de Lima, while RTP reports three.

Mayoralties won

2020–2021 law changes

A change to the local elections law approved in June 2020, which took effect in November 2020, was criticised by independent movements. AMAI said the announced changes led some groups to drop their plans or join coalitions and small parties instead. In 2021, citizens' groups ran for mayor in only 66 of the 308 municipalities, which broke the growth seen since 2001.

On 22 April 2021, Parliament restored several rights to independent lists. They could again run for the municipal council, municipal assembly, and a parish council at the same time, under the same name on the ballot. They also needed fewer signatures, and an online platform was created for collecting them. The changes passed by 130 votes (PS, BE, CDS, PAN, and two non-attached deputies) to 86 (PSD, PCP, and PEV), with Chega and the Liberal Initiative abstaining.

2025 local elections

The 2025 Portuguese local elections were held on 12 October 2025. The National Elections Commission reported 618 citizens' groups running. Of these, 91 ran for municipal council in 86 municipalities, a record that beat the 81 lists of 2021. Official results gave citizens' groups 5.57 percent of the vote for municipal councils (307,343 votes) and 135 council seats. They also won 388 parish council presidencies, 27 fewer than in 2021.

New wins included Setúbal, Mafra, Montijo, Esposende, and Condeixa-a-Nova. Losses included Porto, where Rui Moreira had reached the term limit, along with Anadia, Batalha, Peniche, and Ílhavo. Isaltino Morais was re-elected with an absolute majority in Oeiras.

Analysis

Political scientist Maria Antónia Pires de Almeida of the University of Minho said independent mayors, about 6.2 percent of the total, are still far below levels in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. In some cases there, independents hold up to 60 percent of local executive posts. João Carvalho of ISCTE described the trend as positive but slow. He said it could reflect greater citizen involvement in local politics and the weakening of traditional parties. AMAI does not count candidates elected under the We, the Citizens! party as true independents, although that party calls itself the party of civic movements.

Some winning groups are led by politicians who left their parties. In Matosinhos in 2013, for example, former Socialist Guilherme Pinto won as an independent.

See also

• Local elections in Portugal
• Independent politician
• We, the Citizens!
• Politics of Portugal