MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina makes official October 23 as Election Day

Cristina Fernandez has not announced her re-election bid but leads comfortably in all public opinion polls

Argentina formally announced Monday dates for the general election that will take place next October 23, when voters will choose President, Vice President, half of the Lower House and Senators from eight of 24 provinces

A second round election will be held November 20 in the event that no presidential contender wins at least 40% of the vote and leads the runner up by a margin greater than 10 percentage points, according to a decree published in the Official Bulletin.

The decree states that this year come to an end the mandates of the President, Vice-President, of half the members of the Lower House and Senators from the provinces of Buenos Aires, Formosa, Jujuy, La Rioja, Misiones, San Juan, San Luis and Santa Cruz.

By law, political parties are required to hold open primary elections on Aug. 14 to select their candidates for congress and the presidency.

Even when President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has yet to announce her re-election bid she leads comfortably in all opinion polls and several presidential hopefuls have opted to step down clearing the way for a victory in October.

Meanwhile, lower House Congressman Ricardo Alfonsin has emerged as the leading opposition candidate in recent weeks as his main rivals dropped out of the race. However Alfonsin faces an uphill battle to unite Argentina’s fragmented opposition and convince voters to give his party, the Union Civica Radical, another chance at running the country.

Ricardo's father, Raul Alfonsin, resigned in 1989 before the end of his first term amid hyper-inflation, while Fernando de la Rua stepped down in 2001 amid a deep economic crisis and violent riots.

Another hopeful is former caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde who is running as candidate for the dissident Peronists but his ratings don’t seem to pick up.

Pollsters had considered Cristina Fernandez a relatively vulnerable incumbent until her husband and predecessor in the presidency, Nestor Kirchner, died from a heart attack last October.

Mrs Kirchner’s approval ratings soared following his death and the latest public opinion survey put her approval rating around 55% thanks to the economic and political stability that Argentines have enjoyed since Kirchner took office in May 2003.