Voting Closes at Most Polling Stations in Argentina

Polling centers in Argentina closed at 18:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Sunday after voting in the primaries for next October's presidential elections. Voting in the City of Buenos Aires is extended due to delays caused by problems with electronic voting machines.

RELATED:
PASO in Argentina: Abstentionism, Protests and Inflation

According to the National Electoral Chamber, the voting process will continue for those polling stations where there were still voters waiting. Those citizens would finish exercising their right to vote at 19.30.

The schools where voting will continue until 19.30 are Raíces school, at Gavilán 4455; San Isidro Labrador Institute, at 4700 San Isidro Avenue; and school number 2, teacher Eduardo Luis Vicente, at Larrazábal.

"Already voted 66% of the electoral roll, although voters who are waiting their turn will continue to vote," reported the Electoral Chamber in social networks.

The tweet reads, "Voting will be open until 7:30 p.m. in the Buenos Aires establishments with lines up to the street."

As established by the National Electoral Code, the first official results will be available three hours after the polls close. The law foresees that the first results of the preliminary canvass will be published as of 9 p.m. local time on Monday.

However, the government has warned that the complexity of the voting system, among other issues, due to electronic voting may cause delays in the count.

In declarations to the Argentine network Radio con Vos. The federal judge with electoral jurisdiction in the city of Buenos Aires, María Servini, announced that she will file a criminal complaint against the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires for the delays that have occurred during the election day. According to the official, 30% of the electronic voting machines presented failures. 

The electronic voting modality is only being used in the primaries to elect the candidate for Head of Government of the City of Buenos Aires and other local positions, while the voting for presidential pre-candidates is carried out at national level with paper ballots.

A total of 35,394,425 were eligible to vote, with more than 1.1 million young people, that is, 3.3% of the electoral roll, eligible to vote for the first time. A total of 104,530 polling stations were installed throughout the country, distributed in 17,432 schools.