Uruguayan general election, 2014

Uruguayan general election, 2014

26 October 2014 (first round) 30 November 2014 (second round)

Nominee Tabaré Vázquez Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou Party Broad Front National Party Running mate Raúl Sendic Jorge Larrañaga Popular vote 1,226,105 939,074 Percentage 56.63% 43.37%

President before election José Mujica Broad Front Elected President

General elections were held in Uruguay on 26 October 2014, alongside a constitutional referendum. Since no presidential candidate received an absolute majority, a runoff took place on 30 November 2014. Primary elections had been held on 1 June 2014.

Incumbent President José Mujica was ineligible to run owing to a constitutional limit on serving consecutive terms. The governing Broad Front nominated former President Tabaré Vázquez as its candidate, with Vázquez defeating Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou of the National Party in the second round of voting by the widest margin since the run-off system was first implemented in 1999. The Broad Front also maintained its majority in the Chamber of Deputies, winning 50 of the 99 seats.

Campaign

There were around 250,000 new voters in this election, many of them not used to traditional media.^[1] Campaign managers and advertising agents took notice of this new trend, and implemented an important portion of their campaign via social media.^[2]

Primaries

Candidates

According to the opinion polls,^[3] the political landscape remained stable, due to the fact that most serious candidates had already run on the previous election.^[4] In the ruling coalition Broad Front, former president Tabare Vazquez who had left office in 2010 with approval ratings above 60%, was challenged by senator Constanza Moreira. The major surprise was the rise of representative Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou from the conservative faction of the National Party, and his narrow victory over the more liberal former presidential candidate and senator Jorge Larrañaga:^[5]

• Broad Front: this party has a long tradition of single candidacies since 1971, with just a few exceptions.^[6] Finally, in November 2013, the Congress of the Broad Front announced two candidacies:^[7]
  • former President Tabaré Vázquez^[8] (winner)^[5]
  • senator Constanza Moreira^[8]
• National Party: the primary election within the National Party was a close contest, garnering most of the attention:^[9]
  • representative Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou,^[8] son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera (winner)^[5]
  • senator Jorge Larrañaga^[8]
  • Álvaro Germano^[8][10]
  • Alfredo Oliú^[8][10][11]
• Colorado Party:
  • senator Pedro Bordaberry^[8] (winner)^[5]
  • senator José Amorín Batlle^[8]
  • former senator Manuel Flores Silva^[8]
• Independent Party:
  • former representative Pablo Mieres^[8]

Smaller parties

Many other smaller parties, most of them newly created, also took part in the elections and put forward presidential condidates:

• Popular Assembly: Gonzalo Abella^[8]
• Unión para el Cambio: Marcelo Fuentes
• Partido de la Concertación: José Luis Vega
• Workers' Party: Rafael Fernández
• Partido Ecologista Radical Intransigente: César Vega
• Unidos por Nuestras Riquezas Naturales: Beatriz Banchero

Opinion polls

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Broad Front	National Party	Colorado Party	Independent Party	Popular Assembly	None/Unsure
Cifra[12]	10–21 July 2013	1,021	43%	25%	14%	2%	-	16%
Mori[13]	21 December 2013	-	44%	25%	14%	2%	-	11%
Cifra[14]	19 February 2014	1,000	45%	28%	15%	-	-	-

Results

Party	Presidential candidate	First round		Second round		Seats
		Votes	%	Votes	%	Chamber	+/–	Senate	+/–
Broad Front	Tabaré Vázquez	1,134,187	49.45	1,226,105	56.63	50	0	15	–1
National Party	Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou	732,601	31.94	939,074	43.37	32	+2	10	+1
Colorado Party	Pedro Bordaberry	305,699	13.33			13	–4	4	–1
Independent Party	Pablo Mieres	73,379	3.20			3	+1	1	+1
Popular Assembly	Gonzalo Abella	26,869	1.17			1	+1	0	0
Partido Ecologista Radical Intransigente	César Vega	17,835	0.78			0	New	0	New
Workers' Party	Rafael Fernández	3,218	0.14			0	-	0	-
Invalid/blank votes		78,329	–	156,051	–	–	–	–	–
Total		2,372,117	100	2,321,230	100	99	0	30	0
Registered voters/turnout		2,620,791	90.51	2,620,791	88.57	–	–	–	–
Source: Corte Electoral, Buenos Aires Herald

Within the Broad Front coalition, Movement of Popular Participation won six seats in the Senate, the Liber Seregni Front won three and the Socialist Party won two.^[15] Following the second round of the presidential elections, the Broad Front gained an extra seat in the Senate, giving them a majority, as Vice President Raúl Fernando Sendic Rodríguez automatically became a member.^[15]

References

1. "New voters, a mysterious lot". El Observador. 29 January 2014. (Spanish)
2. "Advertising agents working behind the candidates". El Observador. 6 February 2014. (Spanish)
3. Cifra opinion polls (Spanish)
4. Elections and renewal (Spanish)
5. "Unexpected victory of Lacalle Pou in the Uruguayan primaries". EL PAIS (in Spanish). 2 June 2014.
6. "Reserved diagnostic". Brecha (in Spanish). 8 March 2013.
7. "The Broad Front's candidates and platform". El Observador (in Spanish). 25 November 2013.
8. "Candidate profiles". La Diaria (in Spanish). 27 December 2013.
9. "The only real primaries". EL PAIS (in Spanish). 10 March 2013.
10. Two more candidates ready to fight (in Spanish).
11. Hasta donde nos lleve la gente (in Spanish).
12. "Fifteen months ahead of presidential election, Uruguay’s ruling coalition continues to lead". Merco Press. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
13. "Uruguay's ruling coalition ends 2013 with a majority lead in public opinion". Merco Press. 21 December 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
14. "Ruling party leads in opinion polls". The Economist. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
15. "Broad Front secures majority in Congress". Buenos Aires Herald. 28 October 2014.

External links

• Electoral Process in Uruguay 2014-2015 Electoral Court of Uruguay (Spanish)