Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, and Haiti held elections on October 25. AS/COA Online offers poll updates and analysis for all four.

Guide: October 2015 Elections in Latin America

Overview

On October 25, 2015, four countries across Latin America and the Caribbean held either local or presidential elections. Click through the tabs to learn about what's at stake in each vote.

  • Argentina (Presidential, legislative, and local)
  • Colombia (Local)
  • Guatemala (Presidential runoff)
  • Haiti (Presidential, legislative, and local)

 

Argentina

On October 25, Argentina held general elections to choose a new president, vice president, 154 congressional seats, and governorships in 11 out of 23 provinces—including Buenos Aires. The presidential race had three frontrunners: Daniel Scioli of the Victory Front coalition, Mauricio Macri of the Let's Change coalition, and Sergio Massa of the United for a New Alternative coalition. 

Principales Momentos: Macri, Massa y Scioli en #CouncilARG

Principales Momentos: Macri, Massa y Scioli en #CouncilARG

Los principales candidatos no se han reunido en un debate presidencial, pero en la conferencia de AS/COA en agosto de 2015, Mauricio Macri, Sergio Massa y Daniel Scioli presentaron por primera vez en el mismo foro, sus propuestas para el futuro del país.

 


Vea nuestro blog de la conferencia con videos completos de las presentaciones.


Embed URL
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cqvfo-6N3Lw
Colombia

In Colombia's October 25 local elections, voters elected governors for all 32 departments, along with 1,102 mayors and 12,492 other municipal posts. Although not on this ballot, looming large over these elections were the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (the FARC), which divided public opinion, parties, and candidates along pro- and anti-peace process lines.

Guatemala

The first round of Guatemala's election, held on September 6, took place days after the sitting president stepped down over a customs fraud scandal. Then, on election day, a former poll frontrunner not only failed to win, but was edged out of the runoff by fewer than 0.2 percent of votes. With no candidate earning the 50-percent-plus-one needed for a first-round victory, former comedian Jimmy Morales beat ex-First Lady Sandra Torres by a huge margin in the October 25 runoff.

Haiti

Since January, President Michel Martelly has ruled by decree due to the term expiration of two-thirds of Senate seats and the entire Chamber of Deputies. Though legislative elections were held on August 9, widespread violence at polls invalidated many results and votes were recast in 25 out of 119 constituencies on October 25, the same day as the presidential vote.