Argentine general election, 1995
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Argentina held presidential and national parliamentary elections on 14 May 1995. President Carlos Menem, of the Justicialist Party, was reelected, carrying Carlos Ruckauf as vice-president.
The country was divided, as usual, in 24 electoral districts (the 23 provinces and the Federal Capital, Buenos Aires). Each district elected a number of members of the Lower House (the Argentine Chamber of Deputies) roughly proportional to their population.
All provinces except Corrientes also elected governors during 1995; several but not all provinces conducted their elections on the same date as the national one. A number of municipalities elected legislative officials (concejales) and in some cases also a mayor (or the equivalent executive post).
More than 80% of the vote-enabled citizens cast their vote, and over 95% of those votes were valid and positive (as opposed to voided ballots or empty voting envelopes considered "blank votes").
[edit] Presidential election
President Carlos Menem was reelected for four years, after a first 6-year term started in 1989. Menem's reelection was made possible by the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution, facilitated by the Olivos Pact previously signed between Menem and the leader of the Radical Civic Union, former president Raúl Alfonsín. The reform shortened the presidential period, allowed one instance of consecutive reelection, and changed the single-run, electoral college system by one involving direct proportional voting with a run-off election in case no candidate obtained a clear majority.
Menem's former vice-president Eduardo Duhalde had resigned in 1991 to run for governor of Buenos Aires Province, and stayed in that post after being reelected in 1995. Menem therefore took another candidate for vice-president, Carlos Ruckauf.
Menem and Ruckauf obtained almost half of the vote, most of which was provided by the Justicialist Party, which was allied in many districts to local parties, forming an electoral front. The Front for a Country in Solidarity (FrePaSo) candidates, José Octavio Bordón and Carlos Álvarez, got almost 30%, considered a very good result since FrePaSo had been assembled on the previous year. FrePaSo, however, came ahead in the presidential race only in two districts: Santa Fe Province and the Federal Capital. The Radical Civic Union, which had been a major political force in Argentina since the beginning of the 20th century, came third, with only 17% of the vote.
[edit] Legislative elections
The legislative elections involved filling half the seats of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies (130 seats). The Justicialist Party obtained a large majority (more votes that its two closest opponents combined), losing in only 5 districts out of 24, and filling 68 deputy seats. The Radical Civic Union came second, with 28 seats, while FrePaSo obtained 20 seats.
On a district basis, however, the Radical Civic Union did not get the majority vote in any district, and FrePaSo won the demographically important district of Buenos Aires City. Local parties won in two districts (Salta Province and Neuquén Province).
[edit] References
- Election results and maps - Atlas Electoral de Andy Tow
- National Electoral Direction - Ministry of Interior of Argentina.
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Argentine presidential elections
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