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Elections in Uruguay

Politics of Uruguay
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Elections in Uruguay encompass three different types: general elections, departamental elections and municipal elections. At the national level, Uruguay elects a head of state (the President) and a legislature (the General Assembly). Voting is compulsory and extends to all citizens aged 18 and over.^[1]

The Electoral Court sets standards for and issues guidelines to returning officers and polling station officials, and is responsible for nationwide electoral administration (such as the registration of political parties and directing the administration of elections and national referendums).^[2]

Since voting is compulsory in Uruguay, every Uruguayan citizen upon turning 18 must register in the "National Civic Registry", an electoral roll of citizens with the right to vote, administered by the Electoral Court.^[3] After registration, the person obtains the Credencial Cívica, the official document used to cast the vote.^[4]

The voting procedure is detailed in Law No. 7,812 –known as the "Elections Law"–.^[5] To cast the vote, Uruguayan citizens must appear before a polling station determined based on the series and number of their registration in the electoral roll.^[6]

Having verified the identity of the voter and their inclusion in the electoral roll, the polling station officials give them an envelope to go to the voting booth, known as Cuarto secreto (Spanish for 'Secret room'), and insert the ballot inside, guaranteeing the secrecy of the vote.^[7] Once outside the cuarto secreto, the voter places the envelope inside a closed ballot box.^[8]

The president and the vice-president are elected on one ballot for a five-year term by the people.

In Uruguay, a blanket primary election is held in June to elect the national convention of each party, which selects the presidential candidate. All parties must participate, however voting is voluntary unlike the other instances in the electoral process. The most voted presidential pre-candidate is automatically designated if they reach the absolute majority, or a 40% plurarity with a 10% margin over the second most voted candidate. The convention also selects the vice-presidential candidate.

General elections are held in October. If no presidential candidate obtains the absolute majority of votes, there is a runoff between the two most-voted candidates.

The General Assembly (Asamblea General) has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) has 99 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation with representation from the 19 departments. The Chamber of Senators (Cámara de Senadores) has 30 members elected for a five-year term by proportional representation at the national level, plus the Vice-president.

After the 2019 elections, seven parties are represented in the Chamber of Deputies and four in the Chamber of Senators.

On 25 November, preliminary results in the runoff election showed Lacalle Pou with a majority (48.71%) by 28,666 votes over Martínez (47.51%), which delayed the announcement of a winner as 35,229 absentee votes needed to be counted.^[9][10] Martínez later conceded defeat on 28 November.^[10] On 30 November, final votes counts confirmed Lacalle Pou as the winner with 48.8% of the total votes cast over Martínez with 47.3%.^[11]

Party		Presidential candidate	First round		Second round		Seats
			Votes	%	Votes	%	Chamber	+/–	Senate	+/–
	Broad Front	Daniel Martínez	949,376	40.49	1,152,271	49.21	42	–8	13	–2
	National Party	Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou	696,452	29.70	1,189,313	50.79	30	–2	10	0
	Colorado Party	Ernesto Talvi	300,177	12.80			13	0	4	0
	Open Cabildo	Guido Manini Ríos	268,736	11.46			11	New	3	New
	Partido Ecologista Radical Intransigente	César Vega	33,461	1.43			1	+1	0	0
	Party of the Folk	Edgardo Novick	26,313	1.12			1	+1	0	0
	Independent Party	Pablo Mieres	23,580	1.01			1	–2	0	–1
	Popular Unity	Gonzalo Abella	19,728	0.84			0	–1	0	0
	Green Animalist Party	Gustavo Salle	19,392	0.83			0	New	0	New
	Digital Party	Daniel Goldman	6,363	0.27			0	New	0	New
	Workers' Party	Rafael Fernández	1,387	0.06			0	0	0	0
Invalid/blank votes			88,399	–	91,612	–	–	–	–	–
Total			2,433,364	100	2,433,196	100	99	0	30	0
Registered voters/turnout			2,699,978	90.13	2,699,980	90.12	–	–	–	–
Source: Corte Electoral, El Pais Archived 2020-01-17 at the Wayback Machine (first round); Corte Electoral El Pais (second round)

• 2000 Uruguayan municipal elections
• 2005 Uruguayan municipal elections
• 2010 Uruguayan municipal elections
• 2015 Uruguayan municipal elections
• 2020 Uruguayan municipal elections
• 2022 Uruguayan Law of Urgent Consideration referendum

• 2024 Uruguayan general election
• 2025 Uruguayan municipal elections

• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system
• Ley de lemas

• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Political Data Bank at the Social Sciences School - Universidad de la República (Uruguay)

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