General elections are scheduled to be held in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 22 October 2023, to elect the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

, members of the national congress and the governors of most provinces. Incumbent president

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

, despite being eligible for a second term, has announced he will not seek reelection.

Background

In the 2019 general election, the Peronist, left-wing Frente de Todos ticket of

, former Chief Cabinet, and

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...

, National Senator and former president, defeated the center-right

Juntos por el Cambio ( en, Together for Change) is a centre-right political coalition in Argentina. It was created in 2015 as Cambiemos ( en, Let's Change), and renamed in 2019. It is composed of Republican Proposal, Radical Civic Union, Civic Coalition ARI and ...

ticket of incumbent president

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previo ...

and conservative Peronist National Senator

Miguel Ángel Pichetto Miguel Ángel Pichetto (born 24 October 1950) is an Argentine lawyer and conservative peronist politician. He is Auditor General of the Nation. He was National Senator for Río Negro Province for eighteen years and was the vice-presidential can ...

, exceeding the threshold to win the presidency in a single round. Macri became the first incumbent president in Argentine history to be defeated in his reelection bid. The first two years of the Fernández presidency was limited by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina The COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). On 3 March 2020, the virus was confirmed to have spread to Argentina. As of , a ...

, during which he imposed strict

lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

measures to suppress the spread of the disease, and a

debt crisis Debt crisis is a situation in which a government (nation, state/province, county, or city etc.) loses the ability of paying back its governmental debt. When the expenditures of a government are more than its tax revenues for a prolonged period, th ...

inherited from his predecessor. While the economy did recover in 2021–22, inflation rose to 100% (the highest since 1991). His approval ratings have been constantly low throughout his presidency, only in few certain occasions over 50% approval rate, with disapproval ratings from 60% to 80%. According to British newspaper ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'', Fernández is considered "a president without a plan", and his presidency to be a "weak administration", alluding to his lack of independent decision-making. Instead, his decisions are under heavy influence of Vice President and former President

, also leader of the coalition, whom Fernández himself described as a "permanent source of consultation." The 2021 midterm elections resulted in heavy losses for the Frente de Todos, which lost its majority in both houses of Congress. Observers attributed the loss to the widespread anger over high inflation and rising poverty. In April 2023, Fernández announced that he decided to not seek reelection to the presidency in the 2023 general election. Controversial constitutional amendments in Jujuy led to protests beginning in June where demonstrators stormed the Jujuy legislature.

Electoral system

The election of the president will be conducted under the ballotage system, a modified version of the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

. A candidate can win the presidency in a single round by either winning 45% of the vote, or if they win 40% of the vote while finishing 10

percentage points A percentage point or percent point is the unit for the arithmetic difference between two percentages. For example, moving up from 40 percent to 44 percent is an increase of 4 percentage points, but a 10-percent increase in the quantity being m ...

ahead of the second-place candidate. If no candidate meets either threshold, a runoff takes place between the top two candidates. Voting is compulsory for citizens between 18 and 70 years old.Chamber of Deputies: Electoral system
IPU Suffrage is also extended to 16- and 17-year-olds, though without compulsory voting.

Congress

Chamber of Deputies

The 257 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by proportional representation in 24 multi-member constituencies based on the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

(plus the

City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...

). Seats are allocated using the

d'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest ...

with a 3% electoral threshold. In this election, 130 of the 257 seats are up for renewal for a four-year term.

Senate

The 72 members of the Senate are elected in the same 24 constituencies, with three seats in each. The party receiving the most votes in each constituency wins two seats, with the third seat awarded to the second-placed party. The 2023 elections will see one-third of Senators renewed, with eight provinces electing three Senators for a 6-year term;

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Formosa,

Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, an ...

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

, San Juan, San Luis and Santa Cruz.

Presidential candidates

The following candidates will participate in the Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory Primaries (PASO), to be held on 13 August 2023. The primaries will serve to determine the candidates of each coalition. Candidates who receive less than 1.5% of the votes will not participate in the general election on 22 October.

Opinion polls

Presidential election

References

{{Argentine elections

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Elections in Argentina Presidential elections in Argentina