Millions of Argentinians will go to the polls this Sunday, November 19, to choose who will be the president of the republic from December 10 for the period 2023-2027.

About 35.8 million Argentines are being called to vote in a second round of presidential elections without a clear favorite, with polls showing a technical tie.

After the second round, the candidates with the most votes were the ruling party Sergio Massa and the opposition Javier Milei (La Libertad Avanza, far right).

45% of voters in Argentina have already voted and are choosing between Sergio Massa and Javier Milei

Both candidates cast their votes for just half an hour: the first at 12:11 local time (15:11 GMT) and the second at 12:40 local time (15:40 GMT).

The two were received by a large number of followers who surrounded them, cheered and expressed their affection or their requests.

Voting is open until 6 p.m. (Argentine time) and more than 60% had already voted up to two hours before.

Democracy was what Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández defended most during his last vote in his mandate, which ends on December 10, when he spoke about how this Sunday is “another day when we Argentinians vote and choose our future.” expressed his wish that it would be a day of “happiness” for the citizens.

Few proposals in the Argentine presidential debate where the accusations between Sergio Massa and Javier Milei prevailed

Vice President Cristina Fernández, who is heading into her final weeks in public office after twenty years at the forefront of Argentine politics, also emphasized the importance of this “the second run-off of democracy,” referring to the only precedent that exists, in which the center-right Mauricio Macri won in 2015 against the Peronist Daniel Scioli.

In these forty years of democracy, all presidents won in the first round, except those already mentioned and in 2003, when the Peronists Carlos Menem and Néstor Kirchner did not get enough votes and went to the second round.

It is expected that the partial results with a clear trend will be announced next Sunday at 9 p.m. (7 p.m. Ecuador time). (JO)