Exit polls in Portugal’s general election suggested the center-left Socialist Party was reelected Sunday, beating its main rival, the center-right Social Democratic Party, in a ballot that took place amid a surge of COVID-19 cases blamed on the omicron variant.
A poll by Portugal’s Catholic University for public broadcaster RTP estimated that the Socialists collected between 37% to 42% of the vote on Sunday, with the Social Democrats taking between 30% to 35%.
That result could potentially grant the Socialists as many as 116 seats in the 230-seat parliament, allowing it an overall majority to push through its legislation without forming alliances with smaller parties.
The poll did not take into account the approximately 1.5 million people, out of an electorate of 10.8 million eligible voters, who live abroad and can vote by mail.
Separate exit polls published by three other Portuguese television channels also gave the Socialists a victory.
