ARGENTINA-ELECTIONS/MAYOR Argentina goes to the polls in mayoral election

Record ID: 148404

  • Title: ARGENTINA-ELECTIONS/MAYOR Argentina goes to the polls in mayoral election
  • Date: 5th July 2015
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (JULY 5, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF BUENOS AIRES LAW SCHOOL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SCANNING VOTING LISTS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING VARIOUS OF PRO CANDIDATE FOR BUENOS AIRES MAYORAL ELECTION, HORACIO RODRIGUEZ LARRETA, ARRIVING TO VOTE VARIOUS OF LARRETA VOTING GENERAL OF PEOPLE AT VOTING STATION LARRETA WITH JOURN
  • Embargoed: 20th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAIJHWE52CQJKSWJP85DJQDNVN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The centre-right opposition in Argentina is looking to gain a boost Sunday (July 5) in the mayoral elections in Buenos Aires city ahead of presidential elections later in the year. The vote is receiving special scrutiny as for the first time the election is making use of electronic voting stations.
    The Argentine capital has been led by businessman Mauricio Macri since 2007, who is leaving the post to run for president of the South American country. He is hoping to succeed left-leaning Cristina Fernandez, who along with her husband have led the country since 2003. Fernandez is barred from seeking another term in office.
    Marci's heir apparent in the Argentine capital representing his PRO party, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, is seeking to score a first-round victory for the opposition by gaining more than half the vote.
    If no candidate is able to obtain more than half the votes, a run-off will be held on July 19. Macri has embraced his cabinet chief, Rodriguez Larreta.
    The PRO ticket took nearly 48 percent of the vote in the April primary.
    After voting, Rodriguez Larreta expressed confidence in the the electronic vote.
    "We are calm, I am being told everything is going well, and more and more people are coming out to vote so yes, let's have everyone come out and vote as all the schools (where people are voting) are functioning well, because the (electronic) system are functioning well. If anyone has any doubts, they can test it out at the voting tables at the school. And there are people there from the office of the public advocate who can explain in detail (the process) if anyone has any questions," he said.
    Under the leadership of Macri, the 56-year-old former president of the Boca Juniors soccer club, the PRO party has earned a reputation for getting things done in Buenos Aires.
    Hundreds of thousands of commuters have been helped by a "Metrobus" his administration introduced on the capital's main avenue, separating bus from car lanes and unclogging both.
    School nutrition programs, bicycle lanes, pedestrian malls and parks with health stations where people can check their blood pressure have flourished.
    The opposition in Argentina is also composed of the Organised Citizen Party (ECO), whose candidate in the mayor's race is Martin Lousteau.
    A former economy minister under Fernandez, Lousteau has made made competence and transparency central to his campaign. He too affirmed support for the electronic voting.
    "I have seen home the vote is going, and we have been preparing people as well (to know how to complete the electronic voting.) We have made available an instructive on the web so people know how to vote. We have collaborated as much as possible, knowing there was very little time for people to be adequately prepared," he told reporters.
    Polls have shown two thirds of voters want a break from Fernandez's interventionist policies that critics say have hobbled Latin America's third-largest economy.
    The Victory Front, Fernandez's ruling Peronist party, won just 18.6 percent of overall votes in the primary, putting it in third place behind ECO.
    The party's candidate Mariano Recalde has been backed by Fernandez.
    "Yes, up to now, except for a few exceptions, let's hope everything goes okay, and the will of the people is reflected at the voting booth," he said after voting Sunday.
    There are roughly 2.8 eligible voters in Sunday's vote.
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