ARGENTINA: Voting starts across the country with President Cristina Fernandez hotly tipped for re-election
Record ID:
446663
ARGENTINA: Voting starts across the country with President Cristina Fernandez hotly tipped for re-election
- Title: ARGENTINA: Voting starts across the country with President Cristina Fernandez hotly tipped for re-election
- Date: 24th October 2011
- Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA. OCTOBER 23, 2011 (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OUTSIDE VOTING STATION, WITH PEOPLE CHECKING NAMES ON LISTS ON WALL VARIOUS OF INSIDE VOTING STATION, WITH OFFICIALS AWAITING VOTERS CLOSE-UP OF VOTER'S IDENTITY DOCUMENT PERSON VOTING PERSON PUTTING VOTE IN BOX WOMAN VOTING OFFICIAL CHECKING IDENTITY DOCUMENT OF VOTER WOMAN VOTING RIO GALLEGOS, ARGENTINA. OCTOBER 23, 2011 (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE EXTERIOR OF HOUSE OF PRESIDENT CRISTINA FERNANDEZ VARIOUS OF THE EXTERIOR OF THE PLACE WHERE FERNANDEZ WILL VOTE VARIOUS OF CITIZENS ENTERING TO VOTE VARIOUS OF CITIZENS VOTING VARIOUS OF STREETS OF RIO GALLEGOS
- Embargoed: 8th November 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Argentina, Argentina
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA6NOPTA624WQHJYHMEYNDUST6J
- Story Text: Argentines headed to the polls on Sunday (October 23) as the South American country's presidential election got underway.
Over the course of the day, 28 million Argentines are expected to cast their vote to elect the president and vice-president of the country, along with 138 deputies and 24 senators.
A blowout re-election victory is predicted for President Cristina Fernandez, who took the country's top job from her husband, the late Nestor Kirchner, in 2007.
Polls show the centre-left leader winning enough votes to avoid a runoff.
Fernandez is facing six challengers, including former president Eduardo Duhalde, Santa Fe governor Hermes Binner and Workers Party candidate Alberto Rodriguez Saa.
Binner, a socialist provincial governor, is a distant second in most polls.
Fernandez is expected to vote in her home town of Rio Gallegos in Patagonia.
The city is a stronghold for Fernandez. Her husband and the nation's last president, Nestor Kirchner, is buried in the city, after he died suddenly last year following heart problems.
Fernandez, who has dressed in black ever since, has earned extra sympathy for her widowhood.
To win re-election on Sunday, Fernandez needs at least 45 percent of the vote or just 40 percent with a lead of 10 percentage points over her closest rival. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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