1910 Argentine presidential election

The Argentine presidential election of 1910 was held on 13 March to choose the president of Argentina. Roque Sáenz Peña was elected president.

1910 Argentine general election

13 March 1910
300 members of the Electoral College 151 votes needed to win
Nominee Roque Sáenz Peña Adolfo Contte Party National Autonomist Party Liberal Party of Corrientes Home state Buenos Aires City Corrientes Running mate Victorino de la Plaza Valentín Virasoro Electoral vote 265[lower-alpha 1] 1 States carried 15 0 Percentage 99.6% 0.4%
President before election José Figueroa Alcorta National Autonomist Party Elected President Roque Sáenz Peña National Autonomist Party

Background

The ailing President Quintana's death in 1906 was the beginning of the end of Roca's dominance of national politics and policy. Moderate opposition to the PAN had greatly eroded its majorities in Congress, the very day the president died, and within months, Bartolomé Mitre and Carlos Pellegrini were dead, as well. President José Figueroa Alcorta defied Roca by signing many of Congressman Palacios' labor law reform bills and by 1909, Figueroa Alcorta was poised to nominate the reformist who had been turned away in 1892: Roque Sáenz Peña.[1]

Other prominent conservatives, such as La Nación publisher Emilio Mitre and Buenos Aires Governor Marcelino Ugarte, presented token candidacies. Sáenz Peña, who was the Ambassador to Italy and did not campaign, was selected unanimously on April 12, 1910. He promptly began negotiations with UCR leader Hipólito Yrigoyen for the introduction of legislation providing for universal male suffrage and the secret ballot. The president struggled over the bill with a still-conservative Congress, and on 10 February 1912, the Senate narrowly passed Law 8871. Providing for free and fair elections, as well as for the country's first uniform system of voter registration, the Sáenz Peña Law brought the prolonged "vote song" to an end.[2]

Results

Argentine Republic
Population	7,092,000
Voters	199,000
Turnout	2.8%

Presidential Candidates	Party	Electoral Votes
Roque Sáenz Peña	National Autonomist Party	265[lower-alpha 1]
Adolfo Contte	Liberal Party of Corrientes	1
Total voters		266
Did not vote		34
Total		300

Vice Presidential Candidates	Party	Electoral Votes
Victorino de la Plaza	National Autonomist Party	262[lower-alpha 2]
Indalecio Gómez	—	2
Manuel María de Iriondo	Radical Civic Union	1
Valentín Virasoro	Liberal Party of Corrientes	1
Total voters		266
Did not vote		34
Total		300

Results by Province

Province	President			Vice President
	Sáenz Peña	Contte		de la Plaza	Gómez	de Iriondo	Virasoro
Buenos Aires City	41			41
Buenos Aires	49			49
Catamarca	9			9
Córdoba	24			21	2	1
Corrientes	16	1		16			1
Entre Ríos	19			19
Jujuy	6			6
La Rioja	7			7
Mendoza	12			12
Salta	12			12
San Juan	10			10
San Luis	10			10
Santa Fe	25			25
Santiago del Estero	9			9
Tucumán	16			16
Total	265[lower-alpha 1]	1		262[lower-alpha 2]	2	1	1

Notes

1. Todo Argentina: 1910 (in Spanish)
2. Todo Argentina: 1912 (in Spanish)

1. Although only 265 electors voted for Roque Sáenz Peña, in the final count he appears with 264 votes.
2. Although only 262 electors voted for Victorino de la Plaza, in the final count he appears with 259 votes.

References

• Diario de sesiones de la Cámara de Senadores - Año 1910 - Tomo I. Buenos Aires: Establecimiento Tipográfico "El Comercio". 1910. pp. 336–354.
• Duhalde, Eduardo Luis (2007). Acción Parlamentaria de John William Cooke. Buenos Aires: Colihue. p. 232. ISBN 978-950-563-460-6.
• "Historia Electoral Argentina (1912-2007), p. 58" (PDF). www.mininterior.gov.ar. Ministry of the Interior. December 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2017.