Delays, request to vote and normal participation mediated the Argentine electoral day
Election day in Argentina takes place this Sunday in the midst of the delays denounced in Buenos Aires for the implementation of electronic votingthe speeches of the main political leaders asking the citizens to come to vote and a participation close to 50%.
According to information provided by the National Electoral Chamber, at 3:00 p.m. local time (6:00 p.m. GMT) 48% of the voters had gone to the pollsalmost half of the 35.4 million Argentines called for these PASO elections (primary, open, simultaneous and mandatory), from which the candidates for the general elections on October 22 will emerge.
This level of participation is considered “normal” by the electoral judicial authorities for primary elections.. However, a possible high level of abstention in the midst of the discontent of the population is one of the concerns of the day, for which reason the main candidates for the Argentine Presidency agreed to call on the citizens to vote.
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The earliest riser was the Minister of Economy and candidate for the ruling Union for the HomelandSergio Massa, who stated that he has “good expectations” regarding the result and that “it is a first step” towards the ultimate goal: to keep Peronism in the Casa Rosada.
The leader of the Renovation Front, the third largest force within the ruling coalition, affirmed that he had reached this day “with the satisfaction of the work done within the framework of the campaign” and “with the expectation that there will be a lot of people to vote.”
In Together for Change (center-right), main opposition coalition, its two pre-candidates, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Patricia Bullrichexperienced two opposite situations: the mayor of Buenos Aires was able to vote without difficulty, while the former Minister of Security experienced the delays in the new electronic vote denounced by many citizens.
This Sunday, concurrently with the national primaries -for which paper ballots are used-, the city of Buenos Aires celebrates local primaries but using an electronic voting system by decision of who is mayor since 2015.