Portugal holds municipal elections with attention on Lisbon after streetcar crash

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Voters in Portugal cast ballots Sunday in local elections, with attention on the mayoral race in Lisbon after a deadly streetcar crash last month.

Mayor Carlos Moedas, head of a right-of-center coalition, faces left-of-center Alexandra Leitão, a law professor, in the municipal race for a four-year term.

The vote comes after 16 people including 11 tourists were killed in a streetcar crash Sept. 3, causing a public outcry. Moedas rejected any blame and refused to resign.

Carris, the company operating the streetcar service and other public transport in the city, is overseen by Lisbon City Council.

But many say their vote is influenced far more by other issues in the city, such as housing policies and trash collection as Lisbon creaks under the strain of a surge in tourists and a steep climb in real estate prices.

“Chaotic traffic, a total mess, garbage like we hadn’t seen in many years," said José Rosa, 72. "Of course this garbage issue is the result of a series of reasons but it needs planning. Politics is not just about performing in the face of issues, it is about anticipating them.”

His vote would not be influenced by the streetcar crash, he said.

For Sandra Almeida, one of the main issues is housing. “Us Lisbonites, we cannot live in Lisbon, we are being expelled from our own city,” she said. The streetcar crash would not influence her vote either, she said. "It was an accident that happened, I think it’s not related to political parties.”

An official investigation into the crash is focusing on whether poor maintenance was to blame for problems with the streetcar’s brakes and a safety cable.

“We’re talking about mechanical failures, not political responsibility,” Moedas said before the election.

He refused to convene a session with city councilors to discuss the crash before Sunday’s election, saying he didn’t want the tragedy to become a political football.

Lisbon voter Ana Btelho said the streetcar crash “only reinforced my opinion of the person representing us on the City Hall at the moment, and I think he represents us quite badly.”

Moedas, 55, is viewed as a rising star in Portugal’s center-right Social Democratic Party and widely regarded as a potential future prime minister. After earning a Harvard MBA, Moedas worked for Goldman Sachs and later set up his own investment management fund.

After a brief spell as a junior government minister and as a lawmaker, he became in 2014 a European commissioner in charge of the bloc’s research, innovation and science arm. His election as mayor four years ago was a common career route for politicians eyeing higher office, with political responsibility for the capital regarded as a steppingstone.

Associated Press writer Barry Hatton contributed to this report.

A man waits his turn to vote next to a mural from Portugal's fascist period at a polling station for Portugal's municipal elections in Lisbon, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

A woman checks where to vote at a polling station for Portugal's municipal elections in Lisbon, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

A worker picks up an empty ballot box at a polling station for Portugal's municipal elections in Lisbon, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

People walk on confetti left behind by supporters of the left-of-center coalition Viver Lisboa, (To Live Lisbon), campaigning in downtown Lisbon ahead of Sunday's municipal elections, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Alexandra Leitao, leader of the left-of-center coalition Viver Lisboa, or To Live Lisbon, claps her hands during a campaign action in downtown Lisbon ahead of Sunday's municipal elections, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas speaks to journalists at the site of a derailed electric streetcar in downtown Lisbon, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Vote counting was underway Friday in Uganda’s tense presidential election, which was held a day earlier amid an internet shutdown, voting delays and complaints by an opposition leader who said some of his polling agents had been detained by the authorities.

Opposition leader Bobi Wine said Thursday he was unable to leave his house and that his polling agents in rural areas were abducted before voting started, undermining his efforts to prevent electoral offenses such as ballot stuffing.

Wine is hoping to end President Yoweri Museveni's four-decade rule in an election during which the military was deployed and heavy security was posted outside his house near Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after the vote.

The musician-turned-politician wrote on X on Thursday that a senior party official in charge of the western region had been arrested, adding there was “massive ballot stuffing everywhere.”

Rural Uganda, especially the western part of the country, is a ruling-party stronghold, and the opposition would be disadvantaged by not having polling agents present during vote counting.

To try to improve his chances of winning, Wine had urged his supporters to “protect the vote” by having witnesses document alleged offenses at polling stations, in addition to deploying official polling agents.

Wine faced similar setbacks when he first ran for president five years ago. Museveni took 58% of the vote, while Wine got 35%, according to official results. Wine said at the time that the election had been rigged in favor of Museveni, who has spoken disparagingly of his rival.

Museveni, after voting on Thursday, said the opposition had infiltrated the 2021 election and defended the use of biometric machines as a way of securing the vote in this election.

Museveni has served the third-longest tenure of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military, which is led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station, during the presidential election, in the capital, Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Election officials count ballots after the polls closed for the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

An election official holds up unmarked ballots during the vote count after polls closed for the presidential election, at a polling center in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A political representative speaks as he works to observe and verify the counting of ballots after polls closed in the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A supporter of leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine cheers while watching election officials count ballots, after polls closed at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)