Argentinians vote in midterm legislative elections

WASHINGTON

Polls opened Sunday in Argentina's midterm elections as voters began casting their ballots to renew one-third of the country's Senate and half of its lower house.

Polling stations opened at 8 am local time (1100GMT) across South America's second-biggest economy and will remain open for 10 hours of voting, with the first results expected at 9 pm, according to the Buenos Aires Herald.

Held two years after President Javier Milei’s far-right government was elected in 2023, the race is widely seen as a key gauge of continued public support for him and his La Libertad Avanza (LLA) party.

The LLA currently holds six of the Senate's 72 seats, along with 37 seats in the lower house, consisting of 257 members in total. Elections are being held for 24 seats in the upper house, where senators serve for six-year terms, and 127 four-year seats in the House of Deputies.

The main opposition Peronist coalition is competing under the name Fuerza Patria in 12 provinces, plus Buenos Aires City. Peronist candidates will run under different coalition names in the 11 remaining provinces.

This means that the national vote count for this sector will appear fragmented, while Milei will be able to show a more unified and substantial result, since his political space largely uses the same name nationwide. However, pre-election polls show a close race between the ruling party and the opposition.

The elections will determine not only how many seats each bloc holds, but also the government's ability to successfully push through its most ambitious bills and reforms.

Local polls are also underway in the provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja, Mendoza, and Santiago del Estero.