1946 Argentine general election

1946 Argentine general election
	Presidential election
24 February 1946
376 members of the Electoral College; 189 votes needed to win
Registered	3,477,169
Turnout	81.21%
	Perón (255): 30%–39% (4) 40%–49% (7) 50%–59% (123) 60%–69% (93) 70%–79% (21) 80%–89% (6) 90%–99% (2); ; Tamborini (160): 40%–49% (9) 50%–59% (88) 60%–69% (36) 70%–79% (12) 80%–89% (15); ; UCR Bloquista (3): 30%–39% (1) 40%–49% (2)
President of Argentina before election; Edelmiro Julián Farrell;	Elected President ; Juan Perón; Labour Party
	Legislative election
24 February 1946
	All 158 seats in the Chamber of Deputies; 80 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	82.25%
	Results by province
	Ricardo Guardo; UCR-JR

General elections were held in Argentina on 24 February 1946. They were the last for which only men were enfranchised. Voters chose both the president and their legislators.

Background

Conservative rule, maintained through electoral fraud despite a moderate record, was brought to an end in a June 1943 coup d'état. Broadcasting "orders of the day" every morning on the radio, the new regime enjoyed little approval. The devastating 1944 San Juan earthquake presented an opportunity to regain lost goodwill and the regime moved quickly, involving the private sector through nationwide fund-raising, entrusted to the Labor Minister, Juan Perón. Perón enlisted celebrities for the effort, among which was a radio matinee star, Eva Duarte, who introduced herself to the Labor Minister by remarking that "nothing's missing, except a touch of Atkinson's". The effort's success and the rise of his ally, Edelmiro Farrell, within the junta, led to Perón's appointment as vice-president, which he leveraged in support of Argentina's struggling labor unions, particularly the CGT.

Perón's sudden clout led to growing rivalry among his junta colleagues, who had him arrested on October 9, a surprise move outdone by CGT leaders like retail workers' leader Ángel Borlenghi, the slaughterhouses' Cipriano Reyes, and Eva Duarte herself. Organizing a mass (and, at times, violent) demonstration for his release on the Plaza de Mayo, their October 17, 1945, mobilization marked a turning point in Argentine history: the creation of the Peronist movement. Capitulating to the political winds, the junta bestowed presidential powers on Perón, who initiated his program of mass nationalizations of institutions such as the universities and Central Bank. Calling elections for February 1946, Perón's opposition hastily arranged an alliance, the Democratic Union. Many in the centrist Radical Civic Union were steadfastly opposed to this ad hoc union with conservatives and the left, an intrinsic burden compounded by a white paper scathingly critical of Perón released by the U.S. Ambassador, Spruille Braden. The report, accusing Perón of fascist ties, allowed him to marginalize the Democratic Union (and their nominees José Tamborini and Enrique Mosca – the "tambourine and the fly"). He quickly reframed the argument as one between "Perón or Braden", making this his rallying cry and winning the 1946 elections handily.

Candidates for President

Labor Party: Former Vice-president Juan Perón from Buenos Aires Province
Democratic Union (UCR-led alliance): Former Congressman José Tamborini from the city of Buenos Aires

Perón
Tamborini

Results

President


Candidate		Running mate	Party	Popular vote		Electoral vote
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Juan Perón	Hortensio Quijano	National Board of Political Coordination (PL–UCR-JR–PI)	1,485,468	53.71	304	80.85
	José Tamborini	Enrique Mosca	Democratic Union	1,207,178	43.65	72	19.15
	No candidate	No candidate	National Democratic Party	43,499	1.57
			Blockist Radical Civic Union	13,469	0.49
			Santiago del Estero Radical Civic Union	12,362	0.45
			Lencinist Radical Civic Union	3,918	0.14
Total				2,765,894	100.00	376	100.00

Valid votes				2,765,894	99.25
Invalid votes				15	0.00
Blank votes				20,831	0.75
Total votes				2,786,740	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				3,477,169	80.14
Source: Chamber of Deputies,^[1] Amaral^[2]

Chamber of Deputies


Party		Votes	%	Seats
Party		Votes	%	1946–1948	1946–1950	Total
	National Board of Political Coordination (PL–UCR-JR–PI)	1,439,243	51.19	54	55	109
	Radical Civic Union	765,620	27.23	22	22	44
	National Democratic Party	214,894	7.64	2	1	3
	Socialist Party	139,186	4.95	0	0	0
	Democratic Progressive Party	71,731	2.55	1	0	1
	Unity and Resistance (PC–PDP)	71,628	2.55	0	0	0
	Communist Party of Argentina	41,470	1.48	0	0	0
	Liberal Party of Corrientes	16,107	0.57	0	0	0
	Blockist Radical Civic Union	13,696	0.49	0	1	1
	Santiago del Estero Radical Civic Union	12,791	0.45	0	0	0
	Santa Fe Radical Civic Union	6,328	0.23	0	0	0
	Autonomist Party of Corrientes	5,811	0.21	0	0	0
	Labour Gathering Party	4,241	0.15	0	0	0
	Lencinist Radical Civic Union	4,040	0.14	0	0	0
	Provincial Defence–White Flag	3,937	0.14	0	0	0
	Public Health Party	605	0.02	0	0	0
Total		2,811,328	100.00	79	79	158

Valid votes		2,811,328	99.20
Invalid votes		150	0.01
Blank votes		22,525	0.79
Total votes		2,834,003	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,477,169	81.50
Source: Chamber of Deputies,^[1] Amaral^[2]

Results by province

Province	Labour – UCR-JR – Indep.			Radical Civic Union			National Democratic			Others
Province	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
Buenos Aires	440,419	54.93	28	260,342	32.47	14	50,815	6.34	0	50,269	6.27	0
Buenos Aires City	300,955	50.16	22	118,759	19.79	10	—	—	—	180,315	30.05	0
Catamarca	14,733	55.64	2	9,466	35.75	0	2,281	8.61	0	—	—	—
Córdoba	124,026	40.37	10	117,098	38.11	5	57,547	18.73	0	8,581	2.79	0
Corrientes	33,817	36.23	5	17,542	18.79	0	20,065	21.50	2	21,918	23.48	0
Entre Ríos	67,598	42.94	6	59,024	37.49	3	28,576	18.15	0	2,232	1.42	0
Jujuy	15,342	68.68	2	2,481	11.11	0	4,277	19.15	0	240	1.07	0
La Rioja	10,206	53.63	2	7,477	39.29	0	1,347	7.08	0	—	—	—
Mendoza	49,129	47.55	4	25,333	24.52	2	17,230	16.68	0	11,626	11.25	0
Salta	28,722	63.19	2	9,523	20.95	1	7,210	15.86	0	—	—	—
San Juan	15,970	33.28	2	7,281	15.17	0	9,821	20.46	0	14,920	31.09	1
San Luis	14,460	44.71	2	6,239	19.29	0	11,644	36.00	1	—	—	—
Santa Fe	194,792	56.51	13	71,872	20.85	5	—	—	—	78,059	22.64	1
Santiago del Estero	46,408	51.82	4	28,313	31.62	2	—	—	—	14,833	16.56	0
Tucumán	82,666	68.78	5	24,870	20.69	2	4,081	3.40	0	8,578	7.14	0
Total	1,439,243	51.19	109	765,620	27.23	44	214,894	7.64	3	391,571	13.93	2

Provincial governors

Election of Provincial governors
Elected: 14
Province	Elected	Party	Map
Buenos Aires	Domingo Mercante	Labour Party
Catamarca	Pacífico Rodríguez	Labour Party
Córdoba	Argentino Auchter	UCR – Junta Renovadora
Corrientes	Blas Benjamín de la Vega	Unión Cívica Radical
Entre Ríos	Héctor Domingo Maya	Labour Party
Jujuy	Alberto Iturbe	UCR – Junta Renovadora
La Rioja	José Francisco de la Vega	UCR – Junta Renovadora
Mendoza	Faustino Picallo	UCR – Junta Renovadora
Salta	Lucio Alfredo Cornejo Linares	UCR – Junta Renovadora
San Juan	Juan Luis Alvarado	Labour Party
San Luis	Ricardo Zavala Ortíz	UCR – Junta Renovadora
Santa Fe	Waldino Suárez	Labour Party
Santiago del Estero	Aristóbulo Mittelbach	Labour Party
Tucumán	Carlos Domínguez	Labour Party

References

^ ^a ^b Las Fuerzas Armadas restituyen el imperio de la soberanía popular: Las elecciones generales de 1946. Vol. Tomo II. Buenos Aires: Imprenta de la Cámara de Diputados. 1946.
^ ^a ^b Amaral, Samuel (December 2018). Perón presidente: las elecciones del 24 de febrero de 1946 (PDF). Vol. Tomo 2. Sáenz Peña, Buenos Aires: Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero. ISBN 978-987-4151-57-5.

Online references

Todo Argentina Archived 2008-10-24 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)

[results-1] Las Fuerzas Armadas restituyen el imperio de la soberanía popular: Las elecciones generales de 1946. Vol. Tomo II. Buenos Aires: Imprenta de la Cámara de Diputados. 1946.

[results2-2] Amaral, Samuel (December 2018). Perón presidente: las elecciones del 24 de febrero de 1946 (PDF). Vol. Tomo 2. Sáenz Peña, Buenos Aires: Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero. ISBN 978-987-4151-57-5.

[1]

[2]

Elections and referendums in Argentina
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Referendums	1984
* Elected by the provincial legislatures