Argentines finished voting in the country’s general elections at 6 p.m. on Sunday. The first results are expected at around 10 p.m.

Voter turnout was 74% by 6 p.m. In the August 13 primaries, it was 70.4% by the same time. In the 2015 and 2019 general elections, over 80% of the electoral roll turned up to vote.

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To win in the first round, presidential candidates need more than 45% of the vote, or more than 40% with a 10 percentage point advantage over the runner up.

Around 35 million nationals, both in the country and abroad, headed to the polls to vote for the next president of Argentina.

Speaking as polls closed, Julio Vitobello, general secretary for Argentina’s presidency, said that the first results would be disseminated once votes had been counted in a representative proportion of Argentina’s electoral districts. “We don’t want to get it wrong and give a time [for the results,” he said. “We want to be serious and responsible.”

Vote counting will take longer because four provinces — Buenos Aires, Catamarca and Entre Ríos — also held elections for governor, while Buenos Aires city also voted for mayor. “Obviously, the vote data will take longer to upload in those districts, which make up 50% of the electoral roll,” Vitobello said.

He thanked electoral workers, Argentina’s postal system, party volunteers and the armed forces for their work to organize the elections.

He highlighted that in some remote areas, ballots have to be delivered by mule.

“The election has taken place with complete normalcy,” Vitobello said. “All polling stations opened without issues.”

Vitobello confirmed that 74% of the electoral roll turned up to vote, although “there still are some schools all over the country in which Argentines are still voting.”

He added: “We believe that waiting a little is good, it offers certainty, trust and calm to the population, and will contribute to the system’s transparency.”
Since voting stations opened at 8 a.m., the election process proceeded without major incidents. All presidential candidates voted. While Myriam Bregman (Frente de la Izquierda y los Trabajadores-Unidad) and Juan Schiaretti (Hacemos por Nuestro País) voted in the morning, Sergio Massa (Unión por la Patria, UxP), Javier Milei (La Libertad Avanza, LLA) and Patricia Bullrich (Juntos por el Cambio, JxC) voted in the afternoon.