Polls open in Portugal for first presidential run-off in 40 years

The far right’s score will be watched closely, with the vote being held as heavy storms continue to lash the country.Published On 8 Feb 2026Polls have opened in the second round of Portugal’s elections, viewed as a high-stakes choice between the socialists and a resurgent far right.Voting began at 9am local time (09:00 GMT) on Sunday for the Presidential Election, with 11 million voters at home and abroad eligible to cast their ballots.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Reporter’s Notebook: Portugal’s far right surges in presidential electionlist 2 of 3What you need to know about Portugal’s presidential run-offlist 3 of 3Spain, Portugal brace for new storm after floods kill 2, displace 11,000end of listVoters are set to choose between the Socialist Party leader, Antonio Jose Seguro, and Andre Ventura, leader of the nationalist party Chega, which means “enough” in Portuguese.Exit polls are expected by about 9pm local time (21:00 GMT). Most official results are likely by 00:00am local time (00:00 GMT).The election is the first to go to a run-off in forty years, after no candidate managed to secure a majority of 50% in the first round of votes, held in January.Seguro, 63, secured 31.1 percent of the vote in the first round, while outspoken far-right leader Ventura won 23.5 percent.While Ventura is almost certain to be beaten by Seguro, the far right’s score will be watched closely.Sunday’s vote will decide who takes on the emblematic, but largely ceremonial, role of the president.The vote is taking place as heavy storms and flooding continue to affect the country. Despite an improvement in the weather overnight from Saturday to Sunday, at least 14 of the most affected constituencies have postponed voting for nearly 32,000 people by one week.The storms have killed at least seven people, triggered flooding, and caused damage estimated at 4 billion euros ($4.7bn).But Ventura’s call to postpone the whole vote has been rejected.