Argentine Presidential Elections

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Every Argentine presidential election from 1826 to Milei's runoff of 2023 — the electoral college of the oligarchic republic, the secret-ballot revolution of 1916, Perón's rise, the proscription years stated plainly, and the unbroken democracy since 1983.

Presidential elections

1826–2023, including both votes of 1973

President today

Javier Milei

elected 2023 with the era's widest runoff margin

First secret ballot

1916

the Sáenz Peña Law's revolution

Democracy unbroken since

1983

10 elections without interruption

Chronology The long arc in charts Records How it works

Every presidential election

All 34 contests, newest first — with the arranged successions of the oligarchic republic, the fraud of the Infamous Decade and the proscription-era votes labelled for what they were.

The restored democracy · 1983–2023

Alfonsín's 1983 victory ended the dictatorship and began Argentina's longest democratic era: Menem's decade, the 2001 collapse and its aftermath, the Kirchner years, Macri's interlude, and in 2023 the libertarian outsider Javier Milei winning the widest runoff margin of the era.

2023Milei's runoff22 October 2023

Javier Milei 55.6%def. Sergio Massaturnout 78.3%

201927 October 2019

Alberto Fernández 48.2%def. Mauricio Macriturnout 78.3%

2015The first runoff25 October and 22 November 2015

Mauricio Macri 51.3%def. Daniel Scioliturnout 79.8%

201123 October 2011

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner 54.1%def. Hermes Binnerturnout 81.8%

200728 October 2007

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner 45.3%def. Elisa Carrióturnout 76.2%

2003Kirchner from 22%27 April 2003

Néstor Kirchner 22.3%def. Carlos Menemturnout 71.9%

199924 October 1999

Fernando de la Rúa 48.4%def. Eduardo Duhaldeturnout 82.3%

199514 May 1995

Carlos Menem 49.9%def. José Octavio Bordónturnout 82.1%

1989Menem, and an early handover14 May 1989

Carlos Menem 47.5%def. Eduardo Angelozturnout 85.3%

1983Alfonsín and the return of democracy30 October 1983

Raúl Alfonsín 51.8%def. Ítalo Argentino Luderturnout 85.6%

Democracy with Peronism banned · 1958–1973

For eighteen years the largest movement in the country was barred from the ballot. Frondizi won in 1958 with Perón's exiled blessing and was overthrown; Illia won in 1963 with Peronism proscribed and was overthrown; and in 1973 the ban finally broke — Cámpora won in March, resigned, and Perón himself returned to win in September with 62%.

September 1973Perón returns23 September 1973

Juan Perón 61.9%def. Ricardo Balbín

March 1973Cámpora opens the door11 March 1973

Héctor Cámpora 49.5%def. Ricardo Balbínturnout 85.5%

1963Illia at 25%7 July 1963

Arturo Illia 31.9%def. Oscar Alendeturnout 85.5%

1958Frondizi with Perón's blessing1958

Arturo Frondizi 49.5%def. Ricardo Balbínturnout 90.9%

Perón's republic · 1946–1955

Juan Perón won the clean 1946 election from the labour movement he had built, then remade the state around his own re-election: the 1949 constitution, the vote for women — cast for the first time in 1951, in large majority for Perón — and a playing field that tilted further with each contest until the 1955 coup.

195425 April 1954

Alberto Teisaire 64.5%def. Crisólogo Larraldeturnout 86.0%

1951Women vote for the first time1951

Juan Perón 63.5%def. Ricardo Balbínturnout 88.5%

1946Perón elected24 February 1946

Juan Perón 53.7%def. José Tamboriniturnout 82.3%

The Infamous Decade · 1931–1937

After the 1930 coup, the restored elections were hollow: the Radicals were banned or cheated, and the Concordancia governed through what its own supporters called 'patriotic fraud'. The votes of 1931 and 1937 are recorded here as the rigged contests they were.

1937The patriotic fraud5 September 1937

Roberto M. Ortiz 55.8%def. Marcelo T. de Alvearturnout 76.2%

1931Fraud restores the old order8 November 1931

Agustín P. Justo 61.4%def. Lisandro de la Torreturnout 73.8%

The Sáenz Peña revolution · 1916–1928

The 1912 Sáenz Peña Law made the ballot secret, universal for men and compulsory — and handed power to the Radicals. Hipólito Yrigoyen's 1916 victory was the first genuinely popular presidential election in Argentine history, and his movement won every contest until the army removed him in 1930.

19281928

Hipólito Yrigoyen 61.4%def. Leopoldo Meloturnout 83.1%

19222 April 1922

Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear 50.5%def. Norberto Piñeroturnout 56.4%

1916The first secret-ballot election2 April 1916

Hipólito Yrigoyen 47.3%def. Ángel Rojasturnout 65.6%

The oligarchic republic · 1826–1910

From Rivadavia's short-lived presidency through the 1853 Constitution, Argentina chose its presidents through an electoral college on a public ballot the ruling circle controlled. From Roca's rise in 1880 the PAN machine arranged each succession in advance — elections were held, and their outcomes were rarely in doubt.

19101910

Roque Sáenz Peña 99.6%def. Adolfo Contte

190410 April 1904

Manuel Quintana 81.4%def. José Evaristo Uriburu

189810 April 1898

Julio Argentino Roca 85.2%def. Bartolomé Mitre

189210 April 1892

Luis Sáenz Peña 95.0%def. Bernardo de Irigoyen

188611 April 1886

Miguel Ángel Juárez 78.9%def. Manuel Anselmo Ocampo

1880Roca and the machine11 April 1880

Julio Argentino Roca 68.9%def. Carlos Tejedor

187412 April 1874

Nicolás Avellaneda 64.7%def. Bartolomé Mitre

1868Sarmiento from abroad12 April 1868

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento 60.3%def. Justo José de Urquiza

186227, 28 and 29 July 1862

Bartolomé Mitre 100.0%

18595, 6 and 7 September 1859

Santiago Derqui 57.6%def. Mariano Fragueiro

1853The Constitution's first election1 November 1853

Justo José de Urquiza 88.3%def. Mariano Fragueiro

1826The first presidential election7 February 1826 / 27 February 1826

Bernardino Rivadavia 92.1%def. Against

The long arc in charts

Hover any point for the exact figure.

Turnout since the secret ballot

Compulsory voting has kept Argentine turnout high since 1912 — above 80% for most of the democratic era, easing only in recent contests.

Hover the chart for exact values

What it takes to win

The winner's decisive share since 1983: Alfonsín and Menem's majorities, Kirchner's 22% walkover after Menem withdrew, and the runoff era's duels — capped by Milei's 55.7% in 2023.

Hover the chart for exact values

Records & superlatives

Highest turnout

85.6%

1983 — voting has been compulsory since 1912

Highest winning share

61.9%

Juan Perón, September 1973

Lowest share to reach the presidency

22.3%

Néstor Kirchner, 2003

First secret-ballot election

1916

the Sáenz Peña Law made the vote secret, universal for men and compulsory

Women vote for the first time

1951

3.8 million women enrolled; most voted for Perón

Elections since democracy returned

unbroken presidential elections since 1983 — an Argentine record

How Argentine presidential elections work

The ballotage rules

Since 1994 a candidate wins outright with 45%, or with 40% and a ten-point lead; otherwise the top two meet in a runoff. The thresholds are why 2003's runoff evaporated when Menem withdrew, and why 2015 and 2023 went the distance.

Compulsory, and primary-tested

Voting is compulsory from 16 to 70, and since 2011 every party's candidates first face the open PASO primaries — a nationwide dress rehearsal that has repeatedly upended the race before it formally began.

From electors to voters

Until 1912 presidents were chosen by an electoral college elected on a public ballot the ruling machine controlled. The Sáenz Peña Law's secret, universal, compulsory male vote turned Argentine elections into real contests overnight.

The Peronist constant

Since 1946 Argentine politics has been organised for or against Peronism — banned from the ballot for eighteen years, and the winner of ten of the fourteen free presidential elections it has contested.