2014 Uruguayan general election

2014 Uruguayan general election

← 2009 26 October 2014 (first round)
30 November 2014 (second round)
2019 →
Registered2,620,791
Turnout90.51% (first round) Increase 0.60pp
88.58% (second round) Decrease 0.60pp
Presidential election
 
Nominee Tabaré Vázquez Luis Lacalle Pou
Party Socialist National
Alliance Broad Front
Running mate Raúl Sendic Jorge Larrañaga
Popular vote 1,241,568 955,741
Percentage 56.50% 43.50%

President before election

José Mujica
Broad Front

Elected President

Tabaré Vázquez
Broad Front

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

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.

Incumbent President José Mujica was ineligible to run owing to a constitutional limit on serving consecutive terms. The governing Broad Front nominated Mujica's predecessor, Tabaré Vázquez, as its candidate. Vázquez came within a few thousand votes of a first-round victory and advanced to the runoff with National Party candidate Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou, son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera. In the runoff, Vázquez was returned to office with 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. The following list shows the presidential candidates elected to take part in the October presidential elections.

Party Candidate Ideology Previous result
Votes (%) Seats
Broad Front Tabaré Vázquez Democratic socialism

Social democracy

47.96%
50 / 99
16 / 30
National Party Luis Lacalle Pou Conservatism

Christian democracy

29.07%
30 / 99
9 / 30
Colorado Party Pedro Bordaberry Liberalism 17.02%
17 / 99
5 / 30
Independent Party Pablo Mieres Christian humanism

Christian democracy

2.49%
2 / 99
0 / 30
Popular Unity Gonzalo Abella Marxism 0.67%
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]

PartyPresidential candidateFirst roundSecond roundSeats
Votes%Votes%Chamber+/–Senate+/–
Broad FrontTabaré Vázquez1,134,18749.451,241,56856.5050015–1
National PartyLuis Alberto Lacalle Pou732,60131.94955,74143.5032+210+1
Colorado PartyPedro Bordaberry305,69913.3313–44–1
Independent PartyPablo Mieres73,3793.203+11+1
Popular UnityGonzalo Abella26,8691.171+100
Partido Ecologista Radical IntransigenteCésar Vega17,8350.780New0New
Workers' PartyRafael Fernández3,2180.140New0New
Total2,293,788100.002,197,309100.00990300
Valid votes2,293,78896.702,197,30994.66
Invalid/blank votes78,3293.30124,0665.34
Total votes2,372,117100.002,321,375100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,620,79190.512,620,79188.58
Source: Corte Electoral

By department

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. ^ a b "Broad Front secures majority in Congress". Buenos Aires Herald. 28 October 2014.
  1. ^ Parties which gained no parliamentary representation: PERI and Workers' Party.