According to the National Electoral Chamber, 68.7% of eligible voters in Argentina’s presidential primaries cast ballots during Sunday’s primary elections.

Voter turnout was 68.7%, higher than in the 2021 midterm primaries when 66.2% of voters cast their ballots. However, that year voter participation was lower due to the pandemic. In previous primary elections, it was consistently over 72%.

Since voting stations opened at 8 a.m., the election process has proceeded without major incidents. However, delays were reported in Buenos Aires City due to problems with the electronic voting machines that are being used to vote for local authorities.

Federal judge María Servini said the 6 p.m. voting deadline would be extended due to these issues, since BA city residents have to vote using two systems — the vote for national authorities is done with paper ballots. The National Electoral Chamber said that that decision will be made later in the day.

Interviewed by media outlets, BA city residents reported waiting between one and two hours in some voting centers.
Even Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) presidential candidate Patricia Bullrich had issues voting — a situation that was broadcast live on major TV networks. “Voting in BA city was a disaster,” Bullrich said. “I had to vote like seven times, my machine had to be changed.”

All major candidates and political figures have already voted, and some spoke to the media. 

President Alberto Fernández voted at 10:20 a.m. at the Argentine Catholic University building in Puerto Madero. “I ask Argentines that we take into account that our democracy is 40 years old and that today should be a happy day, that everyone should vote because that’s how we exercise our rights and express our desires for the future of the country,” he said to the media after voting.

Unión por la Patria (UxP) presidential candidate and Economy Minister Sergio Massa said it was “important that people vote peacefully and calmly” so the government has the “chance to listen to what people are saying through the ballot box.”

JxC presidential candidate Horacio Rodríguez Larreta also voted shortly after 10 a.m. “To the voters I say, go and vote, I understand some may be frustrated, but the solution is that they vote in peace and for peace,” he said.

Former President Mauricio Macri waded into JxC’s internal mayoral race after voting, accusing mayoral candidate Martín Lousteau’s political consultant Guillermo Seita of breaking the veda electoral (electoral restrictions) by instrumenting a massive campaign effort through text messages that people reported on social media receiving on Saturday.

“I don’t share that kind of scum they pull off, those things are not right,” he said.