MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine opposition demands results of Sunday's primaries be known by 9pm

The oppositions wants to avoid vote counting interruptions, which, when resumed, show a drastic change in trends

Argentina's leading opposition Juntos por el Cambio (Together for change - JxC) coalition has once again pressed for the results of Sunday's Open Primary, Mandatory and Simultaneous (PASO) elections to be released by 9pm.

The move aims at avoiding vote counting interruptions, which, when resumed, show a drastic change in trends. The ruling Frente de Todos (Everybody's Front - FdT) has already warned delays were to be expected. Interior Minister Eduardo de Pedro has foreseen sanitary restrictions could cause a delay to the data entry process.

In August 2019, then-President Mauricio Macri acknowledged defeat after 10 p.m. and asked citizens to “go to sleep,” at a time official data was not yet known.

JxC leader and former Governor of Mendoza Alfredo Cornejo said he had sent a note to De Pedro asking that whatever results are available by 9pm are released to the public, in accordance with instructions from the National Electoral Court of Appeals (CNE) dating back to 2017.

The results of Sunday's polls will determine who may run in the November 14 mid-term elections to renew 127 seats in the House of Deputies and 24 on the Senate.

Earlier last week, the Government of President Alberto Fernández, mass media and the CNE have agreed in writing to a responsible coverage of Sunday's events to “promote the honesty of democratic debate” and prevent the dissemination of false content. De Pedro, the three CNE judges and representatives of the media expressed their commitment to mitigating the negative effects of the dissemination of false content, both during the PASO and the November elections.

The media were represented by the Association of Newspapers of the Interior of the Argentine Republic (Adira); the Association of Argentine Journalistic Entities (Adepa); the Association of Argentine Broadcasters (ATA); and the Association of Argentine Private Radio Broadcasters (ARPA), as well as directors from America, Infobae, Grupo Octubre, La Nación, Clarín, La Política Online, Perfil, Telefé, Telam, Channel 9, Letter P, and Channel 13 / TN / Artear and Grupo Indalo.

CNE Chief Justice Santiago Corcuera explained that one of the main goals was to avoid large crowds, which is why the court had insisted on a maximum of eight ballots per per polling station. Hence, over 2,000 new polling stations were required.

The judge also requested that candidates and celebrities be interviewed at least 100 meters from their polling places. The CNE has also created the role of the “health facilitator”, who will be in charge of enforcing sanitary protocols.