2019 Uruguayan general election

2019 Uruguayan general election
← 2014 27 October 2019 (first round)
24 November 2019 (second round)		 2024 →
Registered2,669,980
Turnout90.13% (first round) Decrease 0.38pp
90.12% (second round) Increase 1.54pp
Presidential election
 
Nominee Luis Lacalle Pou Daniel Martínez
Party National Party Socialist Party
Alliance Coalición Multicolor Broad Front
Running mate Beatriz Argimón Graciela Villar
Popular vote 1,189,313 1,152,271
Percentage 50.79% 49.21%
Results by department
President before election

Tabaré Vázquez
Broad Front

Elected President

Luis Lacalle Pou
National Party

Parliamentary election
All 99 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
All 30 seats in the Senate
Party Leader % Seats +/–
Chamber of Representatives
Broad Front Daniel Martínez 40.49 42 −8
National Party Luis Lacalle Pou 29.70 30 −2
Colorado Party Ernesto Talvi 12.80 13 0
Open Cabildo Guido Manini Ríos 11.46 11 New
PERI César Vega 1.43 1 +1
Partido de la Gente Edgardo Novick 1.12 1 New
Independent Party Pablo Mieres 1.01 1 −2
Senate
Broad Front Daniel Martínez 40.49 13 −2
National Party Luis Lacalle Pou 29.70 10 0
Colorado Party Ernesto Talvi 12.80 4 0
Open Cabildo Guido Manini Ríos 11.46 3 New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Constitution
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General elections were held in Uruguay on Sunday, 27 October 2019 to elect the President and General Assembly. As no presidential candidate received a majority in the first round of voting, a runoff election took place on 24 November.

In the 2014 elections, the left-wing Broad Front had won a third consecutive election with absolute majorities in both houses of the General Assembly. The Broad Front's term in office еarned support through the creation of a large welfare system, but at the same time was undermined by an increasing budget deficit, along with rising unemployment and a spike in violence. The election campaign focused primarily around the issue of crime, with each party proposing different solutions. A constitutional referendum on amendments proposed by opposition senator Jorge Larrañaga was held alongside the elections. The amendments proposed the introduction of a National Guard and tougher security measures.[1][2][3]

As incumbent president Tabaré Vázquez was unable to seek re-election due to constitutional term limits, the Broad Front nominated former Montevideo mayor Daniel Martínez as its presidential candidate. The National Party nominated its 2014 candidate Luis Lacalle Pou, the Colorado Party nominated the economist Ernesto Talvi, and the new Open Cabildo party nominated former commander-in-chief of the Uruguayan Army, Guido Manini Ríos.

Heading into the elections, most opinion polls predicted a run-off between Martínez and Lacalle Pou, along with the loss of the Broad Front's congressional majority and the growth of Open Cabildo. In the first round of voting, the Broad Front saw its worst results since the 1999 elections, but Martínez still received the most votes in the 11-candidate field and qualified for the runoff along with Lacalle Pou, who subsequently received support from most of the eliminated opposition parties.[4] In the runoff, Lacalle Pou defeated Martínez by just over 37,000 votes in a tight race, with the final result only declared after the counting of absentee ballots. Martinez conceded defeat four days after the election, saying that the outstanding absentee ballots would not be enough to overcome Lacalle Pou's lead in preliminary results.[5]

The elections marked the first loss for the Broad Front in a presidential election since 1999, with Lacalle Pou becoming the first National Party president since his father, Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera, who held office from 1990 to 1995.

Background

The 2014 elections had resulted in a third consecutive victory for the Broad Front. Former president Tabaré Vázquez was returned to office for a second non-consecutive term, having previously served as president from 2004 to 2009. The Broad Front also won an absolute majority in the General Assembly. Vázquez was ineligible to run again due to constitutional term limits. As a result, the governing Broad Front had to nominate a new candidate.

The economy had seen continued growth since 2003, allowing the government to invest heavily in social programs, pensions and health care. However, improved poverty and inequality ratios came at the cost of a budget deficit that reached 4.8 percent of GDP by the end of August 2019. According to political analysts, the Broad Front was predicted to lose its congressional majority, which combined with an increase in the number of parties expected to win seats in Congress, would make coalition negotiations difficult.[1]

Electoral system

The elections were held using the double simultaneous vote method, whereby voters cast a single vote for the party of their choice for all three of the Presidency, the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives.

The President of Uruguay was elected using the two-round system, with a run-off held when no candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round. The 30 members of the Senate were elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. The vice president, elected on the same ballot as the president, becomes president of the Senate, with their vote being the casting one when Senate votes are tied.[6] The 99 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected by closed list proportional representation in 19 multi-member constituencies based on the departments. Seats were allocated using the highest averages method.[7]

Presidential candidates

Presidential primaries were held on 30 June to select the candidates:[8]

Party Candidate Ideology Previous result
Votes (%) Seats
Broad Front Daniel Martínez Social democracy
Democratic socialism 		47.81%
50 / 99
15 / 30
National Party Luis Lacalle Pou Conservatism
Christian democracy 		30.88%
32 / 99
10 / 30
Colorado Party Ernesto Talvi Liberalism 12.89%
13 / 99
4 / 30
Independent Party Pablo Mieres Social democracy
Christian democracy 		3.09%
3 / 99
1 / 30
Popular Unity Gonzalo Abella Marxism 1.13%
1 / 99
0 / 30
Partido Ecologista Radical Intransigente César Vega Green liberalism 0.75%
0 / 99
0 / 30
Workers' Party Rafael Fernández Trotskyism 0.14%
0 / 99
0 / 30
Party of the Folk Edgardo Novick Conservative liberalism
Neoliberalism 		Did not contest
Green Animalist Party Gustavo Salle Green politics
Digital Party Daniel Goldman E-democracy
Open Cabildo Guido Manini Ríos Right-wing populism
National conservatism

Campaign slogans

Candidate Party Original slogan English translation Ref
Daniel Martínez Broad Front No perder lo Bueno, hacerlo mejor "Don't lose what is good, improve it" [9]
Luis Lacalle Pou National Party Lo que nos une "What unites us" [10]
Ernesto Talvi Colorado Party Un pequeño país modelo "A small model country" [11]
Edgardo Novick Party of the Folk Tolerancia Cero "Zero Tolerance" [12]

Opinion polls

Polling firm Fieldwork date FA PN PC CA PG PI Others Blank/Abs. Undecided Lead
Opción Consultores[13] October 2019 33% 25% 10% 12% — 1% — — — 8%
Radar[14] October 2019 39% 21% 16% 12% 0.8% 1.1% — — — 8%
Opción Consultores[15] September 2019 29% 24% 15% 12% 2% 2% — — — 8%
Factum[16] August 2019 37% 26% 19% 9% 2% 2% 18% — — 7%
Cifra[17] February 2019 34% 27% 14% 3% 2% - 2% 18% - 7%
Factum[18] February 2019 38% 30% 16% 5% 4% 2% — 5% — 8%
Radar[19] January/February 2019 37% 28% 13% 3% 2% 1% 2% 7% 7% 9%
Radar[20] December 2018 33% 27% 12% 4% 3% 1% — 9% 9% 6%
Opción Consultores[21] December 2018 26% 27% 12% 5% 5% 2%. — 11% 12% 1%
Equipos[22] December 2018 30% 34% 11% 1% 2% 1% 1% 7% 13% 4%
Factum[23] November 2018 34% 30% 16% 7% 6% 2% — 5% — 4%
Radar[24] November 2018 32% 26% 13% 4% 3% — 2% 10% 10% 6%
Cifra[25] October 2018 36% 31% 9% 5% 6% 3% — 10% — 5%
Factum[26] August 2018 34% 30% 12% 7% 6% 2% — 9% — 4%
Radar[27] August 2018 30% 30% 8% 6% 2% 3% — 11% 10%  –
Cifra[28] August 2018 27% 26% 4% 3% 4% 1% — 35% 1%
Opción Consultores[29] July 2018 28% 31% 9% 8% 4% 2% — 8% 10% 3%
Radar[30] February 2018 33% 28% 7% 2% 2% — 3% 11% 13% 5%
Factum[31] April 2017 31% 30% 6% 9% 4% 2% — 18% — 1%

Results

On 25 November, preliminary results in the runoff election showed Lacalle Pou narrowly ahead by 28,666 votes over Martínez, which delayed the announcement of a winner as 35,229 absentee vote needed to be counted.[32][5] However, on 28 November, while these ballots were still being counted, Martínez conceded the race after concluding that they would not reverse Lacalle Pou's preliminary lead.[5] On 30 November, final votes counts confirmed Lacalle Pou as the winner over Martínez.[33]

Map of the legislative results
PartyPresidential candidateFirst roundSecond roundSeats
Votes%Votes%Chamber+/–Senate+/–
Broad FrontDaniel Martínez949,37640.491,152,27149.2142–813–2
National PartyLuis Alberto Lacalle Pou696,45229.701,189,31350.7930–2100
Colorado PartyErnesto Talvi300,17712.8013040
Open CabildoGuido Manini Ríos268,73611.4611New3New
Partido Ecologista Radical IntransigenteCésar Vega33,4611.431+100
Partido de la GenteEdgardo Novick26,3131.121+100
Independent PartyPablo Mieres23,5801.011–20–1
Popular UnityGonzalo Abella19,7280.840–100
Green Animalist PartyGustavo Salle19,3920.830New0New
Digital PartyDaniel Goldman6,3630.270New0New
Workers' PartyRafael Fernández1,3870.060000
Total2,344,965100.002,341,584100.00990300
Valid votes2,344,96596.372,341,58496.23
Invalid/blank votes88,3993.6391,6123.77
Total votes2,433,364100.002,433,196100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,699,97890.132,699,98090.12
Source: Corte Electoral (first round); Corte Electoral (second round)

By department

First round & parliamentary election
Constituency Broad Front National Party Colorado Party Open Cabildo PERI Party of the Folk Independent Party Others[a] Valid votes Invalid votes
Votes % D Votes % D Votes % D Votes % D Votes % D Votes % D Votes % D Votes % Votes % Votes %
Artigas 15,046 26.6 1 24,224 42.9 1 4,813 8.5 0 10,084 17.8 0 185 0.3 0 139 0.2 0 151 0.3 0 358 0.6 55,000 97.4 1,496 2.6
Canelones 158,221 42.8 7 101,417 27.4 4 35,177 9.5 2 35,202 9.5 2 6,409 1.7 0 5,347 1.4 0 3,601 1.0 0 7,557 2.0 352,931 95.5 16,639 4.5
Cerro Largo 19,895 29.5 1 26,215 38.9 1 5,257 7.8 0 12,232 18.1 1 317 0.5 0 401 0.6 0 259 0.4 0 647 1.0 65,223 96.7 2,227 3.3
Colonia 34,068 34.9 1 32,691 33.5 1 15,750 16.2 1 7,099 7.3 0 958 1.0 0 1,104 1.1 0 879 0.9 0 1,098 1.1 93,647 96.1 3,835 3.9
Durazno 13,087 28.0 1 16,577 35.5 1 5,852 12.5 0 8,135 17.4 0 275 0.6 0 258 0.6 0 325 0.7 0 703 1.5 45,212 96.9 1,460 3.1
Flores 5,308 25.4 1 7,357 35.3 1 4,055 19.4 0 2,874 13.8 0 134 0.6 0 204 1.0 0 116 0.6 0 187 0.9 20,235 97.0 635 3.0
Florida 17,267 32.1 1 18,809 35.0 1 7,919 14.7 0 5,611 10.4 0 359 0.7 0 454 0.8 0 405 0.8 0 930 1.7 51,754 96.3 2,012 3.7
Lavalleja 11,856 24.7 1 17,608 36.7 1 8,198 17.1 0 7,024 14.6 0 491 1.0 0 325 0.7 0 377 0.8 0 478 1.0 46,357 96.6 1,636 3.4
Maldonado 37,496 29.1 1 47,339 36.7 2 15,281 11.9 1 15,751 12.2 1 2,782 2.2 0 1,229 1.0 0 1,437 1.1 0 2,648 2.1 123,963 96.2 4,863 3.8
Montevideo 438,839 47.4 19 214,675 23.2 9 98,559 10.6 5 76,410 8.3 4 15,978 1.7 1 11,715 1.3 1 12,415 1.3 1 24,768 2.7 893,359 96.5 32,342 3.5
Paysandú 32,698 37.8 1 28,971 33.5 1 11,378 13.1 1 6,919 8.0 0 1,154 1.3 0 701 0.8 0 509 0.6 0 1,309 1.5 83,639 96.6 2,926 3.4
Rio Negro 14,263 34.0 1 13,546 32.3 1 6,816 16.2 0 4,604 11.0 0 325 0.8 0 224 0.5 0 286 0.7 0 439 1.0 40,503 96.6 1,446 3.4
Rivera 15,274 19.2 0 20,419 25.7 1 21,256 26.7 1 18,948 23.8 1 181 0.2 0 231 0.3 0 261 0.3 0 717 0.9 77,287 97.2 2,230 2.8
Rocha 18,903 32.8 1 17,317 30.1 1 5,788 10.1 0 10,553 18.3 0 919 1.6 0 348 0.6 0 310 0.5 0 1,055 1.8 55,193 95.8 2,395 4.2
Salto 33,720 35.6 1 21,681 22.9 0 22,001 23.3 1 11,474 12.1 1 506 0.5 0 1,080 1.1 0 561 0.6 0 747 0.8 91,770 97.0 2,829 3.0
San Jose 29,257 37.3 1 26,360 33.6 1 8,140 10.4 0 8,022 10.2 0 897 1.1 0 792 1.0 0 748 1.0 0 1,135 1.4 75,351 95.9 3,187 4.1
Soriano 23,386 34.7 1 20,951 31.1 1 10,454 15.5 1 7,620 11.3 0 877 1.3 0 476 0.7 0 310 0.5 0 809 1.2 64,883 96.4 2,450 3.6
Tacuarembó 20,239 27.7 1 25,221 34.6 1 10,198 14.0 0 12,252 16.8 1 516 0.7 0 969 1.3 0 487 0.7 0 772 1.1 70,654 96.8 2,300 3.2
Treinta y Tres 10,553 26.7 1 15,074 38.2 1 3,285 8.3 0 7,922 20.1 0 198 0.5 0 316 0.8 0 143 0.4 0 513 1.3 38,004 96.2 1,491 3.8
Total 949,376 39.01 42 696,452 28.62 30 300,177 12.34 13 268,736 11.04 11 33,461 1.38 1 26,313 1.08 1 23,580 0.97 1 46,870 1.93 2,344,965 96.37 88,399 3.63
Sources: Corte Electoral
Second round
Constituency Broad Front National Party Valid votes Invalid votes
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Artigas 19,800 35.2 34,958 62.2 54,758 97.48 1,418 2.5
Canelones 189,577 51.3 165,350 44.7 354,927 96.01 14,757 4.0
Cerro Largo 26,466 39.4 38,620 57.4 65,086 96.80 2,151 3.2
Colonia 41,946 43.1 52,111 53.5 94,057 96.58 3,332 3.4
Durazno 17,905 38.5 26,948 57.9 44,853 96.36 1,696 3.6
Flores 6,990 33.6 13,102 62.9 20,092 96.49 731 3.5
Florida 22,419 41.7 29,257 54.4 51,676 96.07 2,115 3.9
Lavalleja 15,934 33.3 30,249 63.1 46,183 96.39 1,731 3.6
Maldonado 48,768 37.9 74,193 57.6 122,961 95.51 5,780 4.5
Montevideo 507,346 54.7 383,991 41.4 891,337 96.09 36,288 3.9
Paysandú 40,114 46.3 43,404 50.1 83,518 96.44 3,087 3.6
Rio Negro 17,485 41.8 22,953 54.9 40,438 96.74 1,362 3.3
Rivera 24,029 30.3 52,842 66.7 76,871 97.08 2,311 2.9
Rocha 24,129 41.9 30,736 53.4 54,865 95.35 2,676 4.7
Salto 43,398 46.0 48,240 51.1 91,638 97.10 2,739 2.9
San Jose 35,178 44.9 40,247 51.3 75,425 96.20 2,979 3.8
Soriano 30,453 45.3 34,318 51.0 64,771 96.31 2,485 3.7
Tacuarembó 26,179 36.0 44,092 60.6 70,271 96.64 2,440 3.4
Treinta y Tres 14,155 35.9 23,702 60.2 37,857 96.14 1,519 3.9
Total 1,152,271 47.4 1,189,313 48.9 2,341,584 96.24 91,612 3.77
Source: Corte Electoral

Notes

  1. ^ Parties which gained no parliamentary representation: Popular Unity, Green Animalist Party, Digital Party, Workers' Party.

References

  1. ^ a b "Uruguays left-wing party faces its toughest election in 15 years". Buenos Aires Times. 25 October 2019. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Crime top concern in Uruguay's general election". 27 October 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Uruguay's presidential poll to go to second round". 28 October 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Lea aquí el borrador del acuerdo de la coalición de los partidos de la oposición". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Uruguay election: Lacalle wins presidency as rival concedes". BBC News. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  6. ^ Electoral system IPU
  7. ^ Electoral system IPU
  8. ^ Comunicado de prensa de la Corte Electoral - 27 de julio de 2018 Archived 7 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine Electoral Court
  9. ^ "Eleições presidenciais: Para onde vai o Uruguai?". Revista Fórum (in Brazilian Portuguese). 27 October 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Daniel Martínez reconoce la victoria de Luis Lacalle en las elecciones presidenciales de Uruguay". BBC. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Muñoz apuntó contra slogan de Talvi: "Nosotros queremos un modelo bien grande"". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Con 6% de intención de voto, Cabildo Abierto se posiciona como la cuarta fuerza política". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Intención de Voto Octubre 2019" (in Spanish).
  14. ^ "Crece Manini a un 12%, caen Martínez, Lacalle y Talvi en ese orden" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Encuesta de Opción: crecieron levemente el FA y el PN, descendió el PC" (in Spanish).
  16. ^ "Escenarios de Balotaje".
  17. ^ "Inicio de sesión en El País". sso.elpais.com.uy. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Factum: FA 38%; PN 30%; PC 16%; PGente 5%, PI 4%,UP 2%". 2019.com.uy. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  19. ^ "Encuesta de Grupo Radar: Creció la intención de voto del Frente Amplio - VTV Noticias". vtv.com.uy. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  20. ^ "Para Radar, el FA está primero en intención de voto y a seis puntos del Partido Nacional". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  21. ^ "Partido Nacional supera al Frente Amplio, según la última encuesta de Opción Consultores". subrayado.com.uy. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  22. ^ "Encuesta: FA cierra 2018 abajo de los blancos". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  23. ^ "Colorados duplican su intención de voto en último semestre tras retorno de Sanguinetti". El Observador. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  24. ^ "14-11-2018 – (difundido en VTV Noticias) Vuelve a crecer el FA, y Martínez supera a Lacalle por 9 puntos. Crece fuertemente el PC « Grupo Radar". gruporadar.com.uy. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  25. ^ "INTENCIÓN DE VOTO "SI LAS ELECCIONES FUERAN HOY" - Cifra". cifra.com.uy. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  26. ^ "Los movimientos políticos que impactan en la intención de voto. Encuesta Nacional Factum del tercer trimestre de 2018". Factum (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 September 2018.
  27. ^ "23-08-2018 – (difundido en VTV Noticias) Empate entre FA y PN, pero Martínez supera a Lacalle por 5 puntos. Crece la Oposición en su conjunto « Grupo Radar". gruporadar.com.uy. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  28. ^ "CIFRA: Lideran los Indecisos NS/NC y en blanco con 35%; FA 27%; PN 26%; PC y PI 4%; y 3% PGente". 2019.com.uy. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  29. ^ "Elecciones: el Partido Nacional es el que tiene mayor aprobación, según encuesta de Opción". El Observador. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  30. ^ "08-02-2018 – (difundido en VTV Noticias) El FA supera al PN por 5 puntos en intención de voto por partido. « Grupo Radar". gruporadar.com.uy. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  31. ^ "Intención de voto por partido. Primer trimestre 2017". Factum (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 May 2017.
  32. ^ "Elecciones en Uruguay: con el 100% de las mesas escrutadas, ¿cómo terminó la votación?". La Nación (in Spanish). 25 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  33. ^ "Lacalle won with 48.8% and Martínez obtained 47.3% in the 2019 ballot: look at the results". El Pais. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.

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