Voting opens in the second round of Portugal’s presidential election Election news

The right-wing party’s score will be closely watched as the polls take place amid heavy storms in the country.

Voting has opened in the second round of Portugal’s election, seen as a high-stakes contest between socialist and resurgent far-right parties.

Voting began at 9 a.m. local time (09:00 GMT) on Sunday for the presidential election, with 11 million voters eligible to vote at home and abroad.

Voters are set to choose between the leader of the Socialist Party, Antonio José Seguro, and the leader of the Nationalist Party, André Ventura, Chega, which means “enough” in Portuguese.

Exit polls are expected by 9pm local time (21:00 GMT). Most of the official results are likely to be available by 00:00 am local time (00:00 GMT).

Seguro, 63, won 31.1 percent of the vote in the first round, while far-right leader Ventura got 23.5 percent.

With Ventura almost certain to be beaten by Seguro, the score on the right side will be closely watched.

Sunday’s vote will decide who takes the symbolic, but largely ceremonial, role of president.

Voting is taking place as severe storms and floods continue to affect the country. At least 14 electorates in the worst-hit constituencies have postponed polling by a week for nearly 32,000 people, despite the weather improving overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

The storms have killed at least seven people, caused flooding and caused an estimated 4 billion euros ($4.7bn) in damage.

But Ventura’s call to postpone the entire vote has been rejected.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said the storms had caused a “catastrophic crisis” but the dangers to the vote could be overcome.

The last presidential election went ahead five years ago despite the coronavirus pandemic, outgoing President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told Ventura on Friday.