2014 Uruguayan general election

General elections were held in Uruguay on 26 October 2014, alongside a constitutional referendum. As no presidential candidate received an absolute majority in the first round of voting, a runoff took place on 30 November. Primary elections to determine each party's presidential candidate had been held on 1 June.

2014 Uruguayan general election

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

Presidential election

Nominee Tabaré Vázquez Luis 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 Tabaré Vázquez Broad Front

Parliamentary election

Party Leader % Seats ± Chamber Broad Front Tabaré Vázquez 49.45% 50 0 National Party Luis Lacalle Pou 31.94% 32 +2 Colorado Party Pedro Bordaberry 13.33% 13 -4 Independent Party Pablo Mieres 3.20% 3 +1 Popular Unity Gonzalo Abella 1.17% 1 +1 Senate Broad Front Tabaré Vázquez 49.45% 15 -1 National Party Luis Lacalle Pou 31.94% 10 +1 Colorado Party Pedro Bordaberry 13.33% 4 -1 Independent Party Pablo Mieres 3.20% 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

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. Vázquez came within a few thousand votes of a first-round victory. In the runoff, he defeated Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou of the National Party 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.

Electoral system

The president was elected using the two-round system, with a run-off required if no candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round. The 30 members of the Senate were elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency.[1] The 99 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected by proportional representation in 19 multi-member constituencies based on the departments. Seats are allocated using the highest averages method.[2]

The elections were held using the double simultaneous vote method, whereby voters cast a single vote for the party of their choice for the Presidency, the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives.

Candidates

Presidential primaries were held on 1 June to select the candidates.

Party		Candidate		Ideology	Previous result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	Broad Front		Tabaré Vázquez	Democratic socialism Social democracy	49.34%	50 / 99 16 / 30
	National Party		Luis Lacalle Pou	Conservatism Christian democracy	29.90%	30 / 99 9 / 30
	Colorado Party		Pedro Bordaberry	Liberalism	17.51%	17 / 99 5 / 30
	Independent Party		Pablo Mieres	Social democracy Christian democracy	2.56%	2 / 99 0 / 30
	Popular Unity		Gonzalo Abella	Marxism	0.69%	0 / 99 0 / 30
	Ecologist Radical Intransigent Party		César Vega	Green liberalism	Did not contest
	Workers' Party		Rafael Fernández	Trotskyism	Did not contest

Campaign

There were around 250,000 new voters in this election, many of them not used to traditional media.[3] Campaign managers and advertising agents took notice of this new trend, and implemented an important portion of their campaign via social media.[4]

Opinion polls

Pollster	Date	Sample size	FA	PN	PC	PI	UP	None/unsure
Cifra	10–21 July 2013	1,021	43%	25%	14%	2%	–	16%
Mori	21 December 2013	–	44%	25%	14%	2%	–	11%
Cifra	19 February 2014	1,000	45%	28%	15%	–	–	–

Results

Within the Broad Front coalition, the Movement of Popular Participation won six seats in the Senate, the Liber Seregni Front won three and the Socialist Party won two.[5] 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.[5]

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 Unity	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

References

1. Electoral system IPU
2. Electoral system IPU
3. "New voters, a mysterious lot". El Observador. 29 January 2014. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014. (in Spanish)
4. "Advertising agents working behind the candidates". El Observador. 6 February 2014. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014. (in Spanish)
5. "Broad Front secures majority in Congress". Buenos Aires Herald. 28 October 2014.

External links

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