A presidential poll held on Sunday in Argentina saw no candidate win enough of the vote to be declared the winner.

Sergio Massa of the Peronist Renewal Front (FR) won the most votes with 36.7% of the vote. Right-wing libertarian Javier Milei, who had been leading in polls in the run-up to the election, managed 30%.

Massa currently serves as the economics minister under current President Alberto Fernandez.

In Argentina, a candidate can be elected President without the need for a run-off if they win 45% of the vote, or if they win 40% of the vote and are at least ten percentage points ahead of the second-placed candidate. As no candidate achieved this, the election will go to a two-candidate run-off.

Patricia Bullrich, a former cabinet minister, came third with 23.8% of the vote.

Massa and Milei will face off on 19 November.

Argentina is in the grips of a serious economic crisis, with triple-digit inflation and soaring poverty levels. This saw the colourful Milei become a frontrunner in polls. He has said he will make the US dollar legal tender while abolishing the Argentinian peso, and will legalise the selling of organs. He also claims to be able to communicate with his pet dogs through a mystic.

[Image: Wengen from Pixabay]


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