Milei will promote a reform project of Argentina's electoral system

Buenos Aires.- Argentina's ultraright-wing president, Javier Milei, announced this Tuesday that he will send a bill to Parliament to reform various aspects of the electoral system, including the elimination of primary elections. «Tomorrow we send the electoral reform to Congress», anticipated Milei through the social network X, who indicated that the initiative will include eliminating the open, simultaneous and mandatory primaries (PASO) so that citizens stop «paying internal elections of the caste». The reform that the Executive will promote will also include, among other aspects, changes in the financing system for political parties. The primary election system was first implemented in Argentina to define the candidates for the 2011 general elections, following a political reform approved by Parliament at the end of 2009, with the aim of democratizing political representation, transparency, and electoral fairness.

Milei's Reform for the Elections in Argentina

However, the system has been questioned several times, particularly for its costs and for the cumbersome organization of an election where many candidates usually run. According to the current system that Milei intends to annul, to be eligible to compete in the general elections, the candidates or lists of candidates must obtain at least 1.5% of the total votes in the primaries.

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All parties are obliged to participate in the primaries, although they do not necessarily have to present more than one list of candidates to decide which one will be taken to the general elections.

In 2025, the Parliament, at the initiative of Milei's Executive branch, approved a bill that suspended the PASO (Primary, Open, Simultaneous, and Mandatory Elections) for the legislative elections held last year. Argentina holds midterm elections to partially renew Parliament every two years and general elections to elect a president and parliamentarians every four years. In 2027, elections must be held to elect a president and vice president and to partially renew the composition of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.