Participation at the closing of schools in Argentina reaches 74% of the register

74% of the Argentine electoral roll cast their vote this Sunday in the general elections, which is five points more than in the participation in the August primaries, official sources reported.

The Secretary General of the Presidency, Julio Vitobello, appeared at the closing of the polling stations in Argentina, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. GMT), although he reported that “There are still schools where they are casting their vote, so that percentage can be high”.

The PASO elections (mandatory simultaneous and mandatory primaries), held on August 13, closed with a 69% of participation. that is, a 5% less.

In the absence of confirmation as to whether or not participation increases with these lagging voters, participation is the lowest in general elections – both in the first and second rounds – since the return to democracy.

Until now, the lowest figure had been recorded in 2007, when a 76.2% of the electoral roll went to the polls in the first round, the only one that was necessary on that occasion to confirm the victory of the Peronist Cristina Fernández, who took over from her husband, Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), in office.

The highest participation was in 1983, in the first democratic elections after the dictatorship (1976-1983), when a 85.6% He went to the polls to give victory to the radical candidate Raúl Alfonsín.

Some 35.4 million Argentines were summoned today to elect president and vice president, and also renew 130 of the 257 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 24 of the 72 in the Senate, and appoint 43 Argentine representatives to the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur, legislative body of the bloc made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).

Also to choose positions from the provinces of Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Entre Ríos and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, which decided not to split their elections from the national ones, as the rest of the districts did.

The first results of the provisional scrutiny – the final one begins next Tuesday – will be known from 10:30 p.m. (01:30 GMT on Monday), although the Secretary of the Presidency requested “patience” with the process.