An Argentine legislative election took place on Sunday, 14 October 2001 to elect 127 of the 257 seats in the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies (), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress (). It is made up of 257 national deputies who are elected in multi-member constituencies c ...

, and all 72 seats in the

Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation () is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the 185 ...

. The elections were held during the second year of the administration of

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Fernando de la Rúa Fernando de la Rúa (15 September 19379 July 2019) served as the President of Argentina from 1999 until his resignation in 2001. A member of the Radical Civic Union, he previously served as national senator for Buenos Aires across non-consecuti ...

. Elections to the Chamber of Deputies are held using

staggered elections Staggered elections are elections where only some of the places in an elected body are up for election at the same time. For example, United States senators have a six-year term, but they are not all elected at the same time. Rather, elections ...

, with only 127 of the 257 seats in that chamber being up for grabs. In the event, the opposition

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei. Fo ...

took control of both chambers of the legislature, severely limiting the power of the administration of De la Rúa. His government was supported by the

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union (, UCR) is a major political party in Argentina. It has reached the national government on ten occasions, making it one of the most historically important parties in the country. Ideologically, the party has stood for r ...

, the Broad Front and the

Front for a Country in Solidarity The Front for a Country in Solidarity ( or ) was a center-left political coalition in Argentina. Its leading figures were José Octavio Bordón, Carlos "Chacho" Álvarez and Graciela Fernández Meijide. History The coalition was formed in 19 ...

, who contested the election jointly under the banner of the

Alliance for Work, Justice and Education The Alliance for Work, Justice, and Education (in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alianza para el Trabajo, la Justicia y la Educación''), also known as the Alliance (in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alianza'') was a political coalition in Argentina ...

. The Argentine Senate faced its first elections since 1995, and in accordance with an agreement crafted following the

1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution The 1994 amendment to the Constitution of Argentina was approved on 22 August 1994 by a Constitutional Assembly that met in the twin cities of Santa Fe and Paraná. The calling for elections for the Constitutional Convention and the main issues ...

, all 72 seats would be renewed, and three classes of senators elected in 2001 would serve for two, four, or six-years in their first term afterwards. Senators, save for the City of Buenos Aires, had previously been elected by their respective provincial legislatures, but would now be popularly elected.

Background

In 1999,

had been elected

President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...

in that year's elections. De la Rúa had inherited an economy in recession, and in the midst of an

economic crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and ma ...

. In the end, the 2001 legislative elections were seen as a rebuke for De la Rúa and his handling of the crisis, which was at that point in its fourth year. The

, which had suffered a defeat in 1999, staged a comeback in this election, benefiting from its role as the principal opposition party.

Elections in Argentina At the national level, Argentina elects a head of state (the President) and a legislature. The franchise extends to all citizens aged 16 and over, and voting is mandatory (with a few exceptions) for all those who are between 18 and 70 years of ...

are compulsory, meaning that those who fail to turn out potentially could face a fine or other punishment. Despite this, roughly a quarter (24.4%) of Argentines eligible to vote, chose to stay at home. The

blank votes A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms a ...

additionally made up a major share of all votes cast.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Senate

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Argentine Legislative Election, 2001

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2001 elections in Argentina October 2001 in South America