Argentina Prepares For Presidential Elections
Two days of “election silence” precede Argentina's presidential election on Sunday, which will include legislative and administrative voting in some provinces of this Latin American country
On Sunday, October 22, polling stations in Argentina will open at 8 a.m., and the 34.4 million eligible voters in Argentina will have to choose one of five candidates running to become this Latin American nation’s next president. In Argentina, going to the polls cannot be ignored: voting is mandatory by law.
According to the Argentine press, of the five candidates vying to replace outgoing President Alberto Fernandez, only three have “real hopes of winning.” These are Sergio Massa from the Fatherland Union, which is currently in government, Patricia Bullrich from Together for Change, and Javier Milei from the Freedom Forward party.
If none of the candidates manage to win the first round with 45% plus one vote in their favor, they will advance to the second round, scheduled for November 19.
In addition to choosing Argentina’s new head of state, voters will also have to elect 130 members of the Buenos Aires lower house of parliament, 24 senators, and 19 Argentine seats for Parlasur, as the Mercosur parliament is called, a market uniting Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela.
This will be a very difficult vote, a bit of a puzzle. And this is because the legislative and administrative powers of the capital Buenos Aires, its province, which, among others, represents 37% of the total votes, and finally the provinces of Santa Cruz, Entre Rios, and Catamarca, will also have to be renewed.
Exit polls are banned in Argentina. So-called “boca de urnas,” meaning trend studies, are allowed, the processing of which is entrusted to certain public opinion polling centers in Argentina. The first impressions are expected to take place in Buenos Aires around midnight (early Monday morning, October 23 in Europe).