BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentines flocked to the polls on Sunday to vote in a tense national election where a far-right libertarian radical has hogged the limelight amid the country’s worst economic crisis in two decades and rising anger with the traditional elite.
Around the South American country voters cast their ballots, with three main candidates likely to split the vote: frontrunner libertarian economist Javier Milei, centrist Peronist Economy Minister Sergio Massa and conservative Patricia Bullrich.
Milei is the man to beat after a shock win in an August primary, though pollsters expected a runoff vote will be needed. Polling stations closed at 6 p.m. (2100 GMT) with first official results expected several hours later as the count started.
Local TV channels cited sources from all three of the main candidates indicating they expected a run-off, though it was not clear which two would make it through. To win outright, a candidate needs over 45% of the vote or 40% and a 10-point lead.
Any run-off would be held on Nov. 19.
With the three top candidates offering starkly different visions, the ballot is likely to roil financial markets, set a new political and social path for the nation and impact its ties with trade partners including China and Brazil. Argentina is a major grains exporter with huge lithium and shale gas reserves.
“We have never had so much polarization,” said 72-year-old pensioner Silvia Monto as she voted in Buenos Aires on Sunday.
Milei, pledging to “chainsaw” the economic and political status quo, has seen angry voters flock to his tear-it-all-down message, fed up with annual inflation at close to 140% and poverty affecting over two-fifths of the population.
“Milei is the incarnation of all society’s demands,” said Juan Luis Gonzalez, who wrote a biography of him titled “El Loco”, meaning the crazy one. He thinks Milei, a brash former TV pundit likened to Donald Trump and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, will win despite being an “unstable” character who could damage Argentina further.
“I see a very worrying situation,” Gonzalez said.
Election authorities said turnout was around 74%, up from the August primaries, but considerably lower than the 81% participation at the last general election four years ago.
Whoever of the trio emerges victorious will have to deal with an economy on life support: central bank reserves are empty, recession is expected after a major drought, and a $44 billion program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is wobbling.
