STORY: Far‑right Chega leader Andre Ventura and liberal candidate Joao Cotrim de Figueiredo cast their ballots on Sunday (January 18) in a Portuguese presidential election widely expected to head to a rare runoff.

The leader of the anti-establishment, anti-immigration Chega, Ventura, who is running neck‑and‑neck with Cotrim and Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro for a place in a likely top‑two second round, urged voters to participate.

“We can’t spend years criticising things and then stay silent on the day we are called to decide. Democracy wins when we vote, when we participate,” he said after voting in Lisbon.

Cotrim, who went to the polling station with his granddaughter, said he was “optimistic and confident”

The presidency is largely ceremonial but carries powers to veto legislation and, in some circumstances, dissolve parliament. The latest pre‑election poll, released Friday (January 16) by Pitagorica, put Seguro on 25.1%, Ventura on 23% and Cotrim on 22.3%, with all three within reach of a runoff.

Polling stations close at 7 p.m. (1900 GMT).

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: LISBON, PORTUGAL (JANUARY 18, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PORTUGAL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND LEADER OF FAR-RTIGHT CHEGA PARTY ANDRE VENTURA QUEUING TO VOTE

2. SHEET WITH THE PICTURES OF THE CANDIDATES

3. VARIOUS OF VENTURA WAITING TO VOTE

4. VARIOUS OF VENTURA HANDLING HIS ID CARD TO POLL OFFICIALS AND GOING TO POLLING KIOSK TO VOTE

5. VARIOUS OF VENTURA CASTING HIS VOTE

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND LEADER OF FAR-RTIGHT CHEGA PARTY, ANDRE VENTURA, SAYING:

"I just voted. Today is a very specific election day, an important day, a day when the choice is in our hands. So the only appeal I can make today, as a candidate, is that you vote no matter who you're voting for, get out and vote. We can't spend the whole year criticising things, or the whole decade criticising things, and then stay silent on the day we're called on to decide. We have to make choices for the country, and today whether the choice is one or the other what matters is voting. Democracy wins when we vote, when we choose, when we participate.”

7. VENTURA SURROUNDED BY MEDIA

8. VENTURA LEAVING POLLING STATION

9 . PORTUGAL LIBERAL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, JOAO COTRIM DE FIGUEIREDO, GREETING POLLING OFFICIALS

10. COTRIM CASTING HIS VOTE

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL LIBERAL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOAO COTRIM DE FIGUEIREDO, SAYING:

"My state of mind is very optimistic and I am confident. The day is magnificent. I really like elections, it's the day when democracy comes alive, when people choose their future. And there's no better occasion to choose the future than on a day like this, especially because what's at stake in Portugal today is choosing a President of the Republic and that matters to people. So my appeal is, come and vote.”

12. COTRIM LEAVING POLLING STATION WITH HIS GRANDDAUGHTER

13. PEOPLE VOTING

14. SHEET WITH CANDIDATES

15. MAN VOTING