- Argentine general election, 1995
Argentina held presidential and national parliamentary elections on14 May 1995 . PresidentCarlos Menem , of theJusticialist Party , was reelected, carryingCarlos 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 (theArgentine 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").
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 the1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution , facilitated by theOlivos Pact previously signed between Menem and the leader of theRadical Civic Union , former presidentRaúl 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 arun-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 ofBuenos 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. TheRadical 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.Results
-!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Candidates!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Nominating parties!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
-
align=left rowspan=3 valign=top|Carlos Saúl Menem -Carlos Ruckauf
align=left|Justicialist Party
rowspan=3 align="right" |8,687,319
align="right" |44.94
-
align=left|Union of the Democratic Centre ("Unión del Centro Democrático")
align="right" |2.62
-
align=left|Others
align="right" |2.38
-
align=left|José Octavio Bordón -Carlos Álvarez
align=left|Front for a Country in Solidarity ("Frente por un País Solidario")
align="right" |5,095,929
align="right" |29.30
-
align=left|Horacio Massacessi - José María Hernández
align=left|Radical Civic Union ("Unión Cívica Radical")
align="right" |2,956,087
align="right" |16.99
-
align=left|Aldo Rico - Julio Fernández Pezzano
align=left|Movement for Dignity and Independence ("Movimiento por la Dignidad y la Independencia")
align="right" |294,467
align="right" |1.69
-
align=left|Fernando López Zavalía - Pedro Benajam
align=left|Republican Force ("Fuerza Republicana")
align="right" |79,069
align="right" |0,46
-
align=left|Fernando Solanas - Carlos Imizcoz
align=left|South Alliance ("Alianza Sur")
align="right" |71,620
align="right" |0,41
-
align=left|Luis Zamora - Silvia Díaz
align=left|Workers' Socialist Movement ("Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores")
align="right" |45,970
align="right" |0.26
-
align=left|Jorge Altamira - Graciela Molle
align=left|Workers' Party ("Partido Obrero")
align="right" |32,395
align="right" |0.19
-
align=left|Mario Mazzitelli - Alberto Fonseca
align=left|Authentic Socialist Party ("Partido Socialista Auténtico")
align="right" |32,174
align="right" |0.18
-
align=left|Lía Mendez - Liliana Ambrosio
align=left|Humanist Party (Argentina) ("Partido Humanista")
align="right" |31,202
align="right" |0.18
-
align=left|Alcides Christensen - José Montes
align=left|Movement for Socialism - Socialist Workers' Party ("Movimiento al Socialismo - Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas")
align="right" |27,542
align="right" |0.16
-
align=left|Humberto Tumini - Jorge Reyna
align=left|Free Fatherland ("Patria Libre")
align="right" |24,326
align="right" |0.14
-
align=left|Amilcar Santucho - Irma Anognazzi
align=left|Democratic Antiimperialist Movement ("Movimiento Democrático Antiimplerialista")
align="right" |13,064
align="right" |0.08
-
align=left|Juan Carlos Onganía - Ricardo Paz
align=left|Patriotic Coincidence Front ("Frente para la Coincidencia Patriótica")
align="right" |3,147
align="right" |0.02
-
align=left colspan=2|Total positive votes
align=right|17,394,851|
-
align=left colspan=2|Total blank votes
align=right|653,434|
-
align=left colspan=2|Total null votes
align=right|125,105|
-
align=left colspan=2|Difference
align=right|30,062|
-
align=left colspan=2|Total votes
align=right|18,203,451|
-
align=left colspan=4|Source: [http://www.mininterior.gov.ar/elecciones/ Ministerio del Interior]Candidates For President
*President
Carlos Menem ofLa Rioja
*Former GovernorJosé Octavio Bordon ofMendoza
*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 andNeuquén Province ).References
* [http://www.towsa.com/andy/ Election results and maps] - Atlas Electoral de Andy Tow
* [http://www.mininterior.gov.ar/elecciones/ National Electoral Direction] - Ministry of Interior of Argentina.
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