Horacio Rodríguez Larreta has until April 13 to define when the City will vote. The head of government has been analyzing the unfolding or not of the elections, but also an option never used: that they be on the same date as the national ones but with a different voting system. Those who support this are, in addition to Larretism, the sector of Martín Lousteau. Against, is almost all the rest: Mauricio Macri, Patricia Bullrich, María Eugenia Vidal and Jorge Macri said they do not agree with that idea. Some definitions will arrive this week, but perhaps not all: perhaps Larretism will announce the date but not if there will be concurrent elections.
If the Buenos Aires Electoral Code is observed, the elections must be called a maximum of 120 days before the PASO. That gives the April 13th as the maximum date for Larreta to clear up one of the unknowns: when will the Buenos Aires elections be? But in the circle close to the head of government, they admit that the law is not clear about whether, in the same act, the president must inform whether the elections will go on the same ballot with the national one or use another voting system. Larretism is likely to decide to play with that gray and only announce the date of the election this week.
The options are then: unfold the election and do it on another date (something that is almost ruled out, but not totally). Or do it on the same date with a sheet ticket with national charges. Or –and this is the new option that generates the most controversy– do it on the date of the nationals, but with another voting system, which would be either a Single Ballot on paper or electronic voting. This would imply that people should go to the polls, vote for national offices with the traditional system of envelopes and ballots, and vote for Buenos Aires offices with another system.. It will undoubtedly be something difficult to explain to the electorate.
Those who want to unfold
But Larreta does not rule it out. The last time they asked him about it, he responded volleyedly: “It’s my decision, which I still have to make. I will make the decision that I consider best and I will give the corresponding arguments.”. He gave no hint of what he will decide and withdrew for the long weekend without official activity to ponder a decision. In Larretismo, the main arguments for this proposal have to do with electoral expediency: Larreta’s candidates (Fernán Quirós and Soledad Acuña) would have better chances in a separate election, they would also maintain their good relationship with the UCR and would cause serious problem to Ramiro Marra or another candidate of Javier Milei, since he would not have the drag of his candidate for president.
The fact that strongly militates this option of the concurrent election is Martín Lousteau. The senator clearly agrees with a separate election from the national ballots to dispute the leadership of the PRO candidates. In addition, Lousteau fears that radicalism does not have a strong option for the national PASO and his fate is tied to that of a candidate for president. Therefore, if the PRO does not enable crossed ballots (that Lousteau can “hang” on Larreta’s ballot), the best thing for the senator are separate ballots in the City. There are sectors of the UCR that even propose judicializing the issue if Larreta unifies all the elections.
Those who say no
The entire hard wing of the PRO lined up last week to publicly tell Larreta that they are not going to accept that he split the elections, nor that they be concurrent elections with Buenos Aires offices voted for separately. “That was never done and we are already on the butt “, sentenced former president Mauricio Macri. “Changing the electoral system in an electoral year is the most undemocratic thing,” launched Patricia Bullrich. “I don’t think the electoral rules have to be changed in an election year,” said María Eugenia Vidal. None endorses the decision that, in any case, by law corresponds to the head of government.
Another who came out to speak against is his Minister of Government, Jorge Macri. “With the time that has passed, it is very difficult to unfold. We are on our way to unification,” sentenced the pre-candidate for head of government. “It will be difficult to explain to the Buenos Aires why we split and vote every fortnight. One thing is split and vote three months before,” he argued. “After changing an electoral system in the same year it seems complex to me because one has to train people in how they have to vote. The concurrent, which is one of the options that a sector of radicalism proposes, supposes two different electoral systems. Never In the City, they voted with a single paper ballot. That vote will take a long time. There is no way to simplify this step,” he explained. “For me the best thing is to vote as we did in 2019, with the national system, the paper ballot”said Jorge Macri. It is clear that a split would deprive him of national support that allows him to discount any advantage that Lousteau can achieve.
By the way, Jorge Macri wanted to clarify that he spoke with Elisa Carrió and let her know that it is not in his plans to challenge his candidacy for the period of time he has resided in the City. A ghost that stirred last week.
This week the definition of the date of the elections will have to come, but the bid for the voting system may take a little more time. It is still a novelty for the electorate that, months before the elections, they do not know how they are going to vote.
