After yesterday’s public disagreement over his decision to change the voting system in Buenos Aires city, its Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta said that the unity of his party, Propuesta Republicana (PRO), and opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio, is “more guaranteed than ever”. 

Yesterday morning, Rodríguez Larreta announced that the city would have separate ballots for local and national elections, sparking fierce disputes with other leaders in his party who appeared to feel the change could disadvantage their preferred candidates to govern the capital.

Ex-president Mauricio Macri said he was “deeply disappointed”. It was Macri and Larreta’s first public disagreement over the elections. 

Today, during an event to honor the work of firefighters, Rodríguez Larreta said that he is “complying with the electoral code” and that, although there may be differences, “the unity of PRO and JxC is more guaranteed than ever”. PRO is the opposition coalition’s largest party.

He explained that the electoral code in force in Buenos Aires City since 2020 gives mayors the power to decide whether city and national elections are on separate ballots, and whether city voting is electronic or on paper. 

In yesterday’s announcement, Larreta said that city and national positions will be on separate ballots, although the elections will be held on the same day, and voting for city elections will be electronic.

“My decision is obvious: I’m following the law,” he added. 

Party leaders fear that different styles of ballot could alter the way the vote goes. Until now, voters from BA city would pick one large paper ballot called a “sheet list” (lista sábana) that included candidates for all the positions that were up for election, ranging from president to school advisors, depending on each district. 

Some fear that putting national and city roles on separate ballots could mean that voters pick representatives from different coalitions at city and national level.

In the traditional sheet list, voters have to cut off the candidates they choose and place them in an envelope, while with the new ballot, they will have one big sheet where they will be able to mark candidates from different parties for different positions. 

The criticism against Rodríguez Larreta was made by PRO members, who claimed that he is changing the rules four months away from the primary elections. “No one should decide by himself,” said Macri in a Zoom meeting with other PRO members this morning, according to Infobae. However, other JxC parties like the Civic Coalition (CC) and the Radical Party (UCR) have supported the Mayor’s decision. 

The UCR’s Buenos Aires city branch even issued a statement saying that they “saluted” Rodríguez Larreta’s measure and they believed that “complying with the law and the electoral rules is the best way of showing our country the path and the views of Juntos por el Cambio”. 

The leader of UCR, Federico Storani, said in a radio interview that the disappointment that Mauricio Macri expressed was because “he can’t impose his own rules as he has done in the past,” and that “his reaction was disproportionate, showing an intentionality”.

“Some are used to breaking the law,” he added.