Lisbon – Reuters

Portuguese voters voted Sunday in the parliamentary election, but there was no clear victory in sight and uncertainty increased, amid a recorded increase in the number of corona virus infections due to the low turnout potential.

Polling stations opened at 8 p.m. At the University of Lisbon, staff were more than just voters, most of them elderly, and signs were put up on the walls asking people to wear masks, monitor social distance and use their own pens to vote.

Some even wore gloves for extra protection.

Maria Oded, 73, said: “I was vaccinated and I do not have a corona virus infection yet. But I felt very safe, ”he said.

The government isolated the injured and allowed them to vote for themselves, promising “complete security” during the polls and recommending that it be in the last hour before polling stations close.

It is estimated that one tenth of Portugal’s 10 million people are isolated due to COVID-19.

The election results have been shrouded in uncertainty as the ruling center-left Socialist Party has lost support for the main opposition in opinion polls.

Elections were held last November after parliament rejected the budget of the minority socialist government.

Elections can exacerbate political inequalities and result in a short-lived government if one of the major parties fails to form a coalition.