On an evening in which he once again presented himself as the only 'moderate' candidate capable of representing left and centre-left voters in a second round, António José Seguro travelled to Barreiro, in the district of Setúbal, to press the appeal for tactical voting while also trying to broaden his electoral support base to defeat André Ventura.
PS 'doesn't contaminate' — Seguro, who only thinks of victory: 'We must come first'
Wednesday, 14 January 2026RSS
Context & Explainers
Tactical voting (voto útil) means choosing a candidate or party other than your first preference in order to achieve a strategic outcome — for example, concentrating support to ensure a preferred candidate reaches a second-round runoff, or to prevent a disliked candidate from winning.
In Portugal, tactical voting is particularly relevant in presidential elections (where a two-round system is used) and in legislative elections (where proportional representation means small parties can lose votes to threshold effects in smaller districts).
Party leaders frequently urge tactical voting during campaigns, asking supporters of allied or similar parties to consolidate behind the strongest candidate to maximize seat counts or prevent rivals from gaining ground.
