1976 Azorean regional election
The Azores Regional Election was an election held on 27 June 1976 for the first Legislative Assembly of the Portuguese Autonomous Region of the Azores.
Turnout was 67.51 percent, resulting in a victory of the Social Democratic Party led by Mota Amaral, who became the first President through election.
Background
Until the 19th century the administration of the Azores had been separated from the national government, and considered overseas territories. After 1895, the Azores and Madeira obtained their own level of administrative autonomy that was established in the Portuguese Constitution. In this form the islands began to function as autonomous districts, similar to the district Juntas Gerais, which continued until 1974. But, in practice, these communities were abandoned administratively, and had no means to improve development, resulting in immigration. Following the Carnation Revolution, from April 1974 until August 1975, the Azores continued as autonomous districts, until the Junta Governativa dos Açores was constituted under President General Altino de Magalhães and six other councilmen:- Dr. Henrique Aguiar Rodrigues, to handle Assuntos Sociais, Trabalho e Emigração ;
- Dr. José Adriano Borges de Carvalho,, as the coordinator of the Coordenação Económica e Finanças ;
- José Pacheco de Almeida, to run Transportes, Comércio, Comunicações e Turismo ;
- Eng. José António Martins Goulart, in the role of Educação, Investigação Científica, Comunicação Social e Cultural ;
- Engº Leonildo Garcia Vargas, in Administração Local, Equipamento Social e Ambiente ;
- Dr. António de Albuquerque Jácome Corrêa, to administer Agricultura, Pescas e Indústria
Political parties
- Democratic and Social Centre
- Movement of Socialist Left
- Portuguese Communist Party
- [Communist Party of the Portugal|Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat|Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers]
- Socialist Party
- Social Democratic Party
Distribution of MPs by constituency
The following table contains the number of seats that each constituency can elect.| Constituency | Total MPs | Registered voters |
| Corvo | 2 | 309 |
| Faial | 4 | 10,898 |
| Flores | 3 | 2,680 |
| Graciosa | 3 | 4,324 |
| Pico | 4 | 11,413 |
| Santa Maria | 3 | 4,766 |
| São Jorge | 4 | 7,711 |
| São Miguel | 13 | 80,364 |
| Terceira | 8 | 40,212 |
| Total | 43 | 162,677 |
Summary of votes and seats
! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Seats
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|1976
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%