ESPECIALLY JEALOUS OF BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA The election in Argentina is entering the second round between the Peronists Sergio Massa and the libertarian Javier Milei. As the counting progressed on the night of this Sunday, the 22nd, the result was calculated at around 10 p.m. With 97.04% of the votes counted, Massa has 36.48% of the vote and the Libertarians have 30.04%. Patricia BullrichCenterright, came third with 23.85% of voter preference.
The dissident Peronist Juan Schiaretti from the “Let’s do it for our country” coalition got 6.82% and Myriam Bregman from the Left Union got 2.69%. Only 2% of voters cast a blank vote and less than 1% canceled their vote. Election day went smoothly. Voter turnout was 74%, the lowest since the country’s redemocratization. There is no compulsory voting in Argentina.
The surprising result shows the strength of Peronism, especially in the interior and in Buenos Aires province, as most polls suggested Milei is in the lead and even has a chance of winning in the first round and in any election that concentrates What matters is a large part of the country’s population.
Analysis of the elections in Argentina
In the province, Milei had 42.8% of the vote compared to 25.7% for Milei. He also gained important advantages in the interior, in provinces such as Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Santa Cruz and Formosa, where the dominance of Peronist governors has grown historically and the population relies on state support.
The big question will be where Bullrich’s votes will go in the second round, scheduled for November 19th. Bullrich has historically been a rival to the Peronists, particularly since the arrival of the Kirchner family, and also enjoys a poor reputation among Milei’s voters. Even though she shares the candidate’s rejection of the left, Bullrich was heavily attacked in the first round of voting. She won only in the city of Buenos Aires, where she received 41% of the vote, followed by Massa in second place with 32% and Milei with 20%.
Milei showed strength in poor northern provinces such as Salta and Jujuy, as well as mediumsized provinces in the center of the country such as Santa Fé and Córdoba.
Mass speaks to supporters after election victory in Argentina Photo: Portal / Portal
Massa waved to the center in his speech after today’s victory, calling for a union with the Radical Civic Union, a historic rival to Peronism that supports Bullrich. “We have to build a new stage. “I would like to invite everyone who has the power to put an end to the idea of destroying others and unite us,” he said. “Polarization is dead.”
Milei, in turn, celebrated reaching the second round and spoke of “working together” to achieve victory, also alluding to Bullrich. “Anyone who wants change needs to work together,” he said.
Understanding the elections in Argentina
However, outside Milei’s headquarters there was a disappointing atmosphere. Darwin Gimenez Martinez 21 and Facundo Ojeda 24 said they were disappointed with the results. They expected Milei to win in the first round. Both are confident that Milei will win in the second round.
For 33yearold Roberto Burgener, Massa emerged first in this round due to a campaign of fear he pushed against Milei. “They started making short videos of Milei, with cuts and very old phrases, to carry out a fear campaign,” he says.
His girlfriend Veronica Perini also reminds him of the lines about the dollar. “They said if Milei won the dollar would explode, people were scared,” he says, shrugging.
Milei voted in the early afternoon, to the sound of congratulations on her birthday and amid the violent commotion caused by her supporters at the entrance to the National Technical University in Palermo.
Nearby, Bullrich voted at the Sociedade Rural, also in the Palermo region, around 1 p.m. She voted quickly, unlike the primaries where the candidate took more than ten minutes to cast her vote due to system difficulties.
The government candidate Sergio Massa voted early in his city and electoral stronghold Tigre. There he explained that whoever takes office as the new president on December 10th “will have countless problems to solve.” He said in his networks that the country needs predictability.
President Alberto Fernández voted in Buenos Aires this morning. Fernández stressed that everything necessary had been done so that the electoral process could be peaceful. Regarding his expectations for the future of Argentina, the President stated: “We live in a democracy. What solves people is what solves people.”
Sergio Massa celebrates the results of the first round of elections in Argentina Photo: JUAN MABROMATA / AFP