Ballotage in Argentina

Daniel Scioli and Mauricio Macri had a ballotage in the 2015 presidential elections, which was won by Macri.

The ballotage system is included in the Constitution of Argentina. It was added by the 1994 amendment, as part of the negotiations between Raúl Alfonsín and President Carlos Menem.[1]

Most countries with a two-round system require a candidate to win at least 50 percent of the vote to win the presidency in a single round. In Argentina, however, a candidate does not need a majority for a first-round victory. Instead, a candidate can win outright if he wins at least 45 percent of the vote, or wins 40 to 44 percent of the vote and is at least 10 percent ahead of the runner-up. Lower level Argentine districts, such as the city of Buenos Aires, included the ballotage in their local constitutions, but with the standard requirements.[1]

Since the amended constitution took effect, only two elections have had a result that required a ballotage.

In 2003 elections, Menem took 24.45% of the vote to 22.24% for Néstor Kirchner. However, Menem pulled out of the runoff when polls showed him losing badly to Kirchner, effectively handing the presidency to Kirchner.

The 2015 elections, with both candidates in a tie of nearly 35%, also required a ballotage.[1]

In the first runoff voting ever held for an Argentine presidential election, opposition leader and Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri narrowly defeated FPV candidate and Buenos Aires Province Governor Daniel Scioli, with Macri obtaining 51.34% of the votes to Scioli's 48.66%.[2][3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Juan Pablo Bustos Thames (October 25, 2015). "Breve historia del ballotage en la Argentina" [Brief history of ballotage in Argentina] (in Spanish). Infobae. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Resultado del Escrutinio Definitivo de la Segunda Vuelta Electoral del 22 de noviembre" (PDF) (in Spanish). Cámara Nacional Electoral. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Simon Romero and Jonathan Gilbert (November 22, 2015). "In Rebuke to Kirchner, Argentines Elect Opposition Leader Mauricio Macri as President". The New York Times. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
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