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1931 Argentine general election

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1931 Argentine general election

Presidential election
← 1928 8 November 1931 1937 →

376 members of the Electoral College
189 votes needed to win
Registered2,116,552
Turnout73.80%
 
Nominee Agustín P. Justo Lisandro de la Torre
Party Antipersonalist Radical Civic Union Democratic Progressive Party
Alliance Concordance Civic Alliance
Running mate Nicolás Repetto
Electoral vote 237 124
States carried 12 1 + CF
Popular vote 864,394 487,584
Percentage 61.44% 34.66%

Most voted party by province.

President before election

José F. Uriburu
Nationalist Liberation Alliance

Elected President

Agustín P. Justo
National Democratic Party

Legislative election
← 1930 8 November 1931 1934 →

158 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
80 seats needed for a majority
Turnout73.81%
Party Vote % Seats
Chamber of Deputies
Concordance

60.05% 95
Civic Alliance

34.25% 57
Entre Ríos Antipersonalist UCR

3.28% 6
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by province

The Argentine general election of 1931 was held on 8 November.

Background

[edit]
Concordance candidate Agustín Justo (left) and his benefactor, dictator José Félix Uriburu.

Following months of protest triggered in part by the onset of the Great Depression, a quiet coup d'état deposed the aging Hipólito Yrigoyen in September 1930. His country's first leader elected via secret male universal suffrage, Yrigoyen had strained alliances within his own centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR) through frequent interventions against willful governors and had set business powerhouses such as Standard Oil against him through his support of YPF, the state oil concern founded in 1922.[1] Staging its first coup since 1861, the Argentine military, then dominated by conservative, rural interests, called on José Félix Uriburu, a retired general and member of the Supreme War Council, to assume the role of Provisional President. Uriburu, the nephew of former President José Evaristo Uriburu, had no taste for politics and was in ailing health.[2]

He nevertheless set down an ambitious agenda, entrusting his Interior Minister, Matías Sánchez Sorondo, to replace the 1912 Sáenz Peña Law (which provided for universal male suffrage and the secret ballot) with one promoting a single, ruling party not unlike the one that kept the landowner-oriented National Autonomist Party (PAN) in power from 1874 to 1916. Aligning themselves behind the relatively moderate National Democratic Party, conservatives were defeated in gubernatorial polls in the paramount Province of Buenos Aires in April 1931. The results not only raised hopes for the centrist, urban-oriented UCR, it also persuaded Uriburu that Sánchez Sorondo's "electoral reform" would not keep conservatives in power, in and of itself.

The UCR turned to Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear for leadership ahead of the November 1931 elections. The scion of one of Argentina's traditional landed families and President from 1922 to 1928, Alvear's alliance with Yrigoyen soured as he challenged the latter's personality cult (hence his creation of a splinter, "Antipersonalist" UCR). The seasoned Alvear, however, took care to assuage the still-popular Yrigoyen's objections by naming former Salta Province Governor Adolfo Güemes (a staunch Yrigoyen supporter) as his running mate.[3]

Facing a recovered and nearly-unified UCR, President Uriburu dispensed with his previous pledge to restore constitutional order and annulled the Buenos Aires Province elections. He also promoted the Argentine Civic Legion, an armed fascist organization entrusted to intimidate the opposition.[4] Alvear's establishment of a Renewal Junta helped lead to a violent July 20 clash with Uriburu's forces in Corrientes Province, which gave the President the pretext for ordering Alvear's deportation, a few days later. Deprived of their candidate, the UCR boycotted the 1931 election, though party committees in a number of provinces participated in the November polls.[2]

The support of UCR Senator Leopoldo Melo (the leader of the anti-Yrigoyen faction of the party) and Uriburu for retired General Agustín Justo as candidate resulted in the Concordance. This new, conservative alliance heeded Uriburu's sage advice during their nominating convention, sidestepping imposing landowners in favor of Justo, who had been President Alvear's War Minister in the 1920s. They picked former Córdoba Governor Julio Roca as his running mate; Roca, the son of the late PAN leader, Julio A. Roca, had led the Democratic Party of Córdoba.[2]

A National Democratic Party ballot.

The Democratic Progressive Party (PDP), known for its anti-corruption platform, nominated Senator Lisandro de la Torre, who also earned the endorsement of the Socialist Party of Argentina, a party in search of leadership following the passing of Juan B. Justo, in 1928. The alliance alienated conservatives in the PDP, however, who instead endorsed the aging Francisco A. Barroetaveña, a former Senator who ran on a UCR ticket limited to his Entre Ríos Province. Barroetaveña, who helped found the UCR in 1890, broke with Yrigoyen during the 1920s and hoped to rally the exiled Alvear's supporters behind him.

Ultimately, voter intimidation and widespread irregularities helped give the National Democratic-led Concordance a sizable victory on election night. The electoral college, however, which counted the conservatives' ad hoc Lista Única (Unified List) separately, was far more closely divided: 135 for Justo, 124 for de la Torre, and 117 for the numerous UCR tickets who defied Alvear's boycott (including Barroetaveña's). As most of these splinter UCR tickets were led by conservative figures opposed to the muck-raking Senator de la Torre, their pledge of most of their 117 electors handed Justo the Presidency.[3]

Candidates

[edit]

Results

[edit]

President

[edit]
Presidential
candidate
Vice Presidential
candidate
Party Popular vote Electoral vote
Votes % Votes %
Agustín Pedro Justo Total Concordance 864,394 61.44 237 63.03
National Democratic Party (PDN) 508,271 36.13 157 41.76
Antipersonalist Radical Civic Union (UCR-A) 177,193 12.59 29 7.71
Independent Socialist Party (PSI) 37,788 2.69 3 0.80
PDN - Pactist Liberal - Antipersonalist UCR 28,835 2.05 12 3.19
Unified Radical Civic Union (UCR-U) 28,343 2.01 11 2.93
Liberal Party of Corrientes (PLCo) 27,139 1.93 6 1.60
Provincial Defence–White Flag (DP-BB) 22,195 1.58 6 1.60
Blockist Radical Civic Union (UCR-B) 20,910 1.49 7 1.86
Popular Party of Jujuy 9,246 0.66 6 1.60
Antipersonalist UCR - Independent Socialist 2,498 0.18
Liberal Party of San Juan 1,976 0.14
Lisandro de la Torre Nicolás Repetto Democratic Progressive - Socialist Alliance (Civic Alliance) 487,584 34.66 124 32.98
Francisco Barroetaveña José Nicolás Matienzo Independent Radical Civic Union 41,474 2.95 15 3.99
Genaro Giacobini Héctor González Public Health Party 4,507 0.32
No candidates National Agrarian Union 4,223 0.30
Reform Party 4,163 0.30
Dissident Liberal Party of Córdoba 532 0.04
Total 1,406,877 100
Positive votes 1,406,877 90.07
Blank votes 79,333 5.08
Tally sheet differences 75,823 4.85
Total votes 1,562,033 100
Registered voters/turnout 2,116,552 73.80
Sources:[5][6][7]

Chamber of Deputies

[edit]
Party Votes % Seats
1932-1934
Seats
1932-1936
Total seats
Total Concordance 823,662 60.05 50 45 95
National Democratic Party (PDN) 479,087 34.93 27 31 58
Independent Socialist Party (PSI) 96,544 7.04 6 5 11
Santa Fe Radical Civic Union (UCR-SF) 80,822 5.89 3 3 6
Antipersonalist Radical Civic Union (UCR-A) 46,905 3.42 5 5
Unified Radical Civic Union 29,941 2.18 2 2 4
Liberal Party of Corrientes (PLCo) 28,522 2.08 2 3 5
Provincial Defence–White Flag (DP-BB) 24,797 1.81 1 1 2
Blockist Radical Civic Union (UCR-B) 20,330 1.48 2 2
Popular Party of Jujuy 11,414 0.83 2 2
Antipersonalist Radical Civic Union - Independent Socialist 3,107 0.23
Liberal Party of San Juan 2,193 0.16
Total Civic Alliance 469,818 34.25 27 30 57
Socialist Party (PS) 360,813 26.30 20 22 42
Democratic Progressive Party (PDP) 99.603 7.26 6 8 14
Civic Alliance 9.402 0.69 1 1 2
Entre Ríos Antipersonalist Radical Civic Union (UCR-A) 44,982 3.28 2 4 6
Agrarian Party 14,670 1.07
Reform Party 9,098 0.66
Public Health Party 5,424 0.40
Dissident Democratic Party of San Luis 2,121 0.15
Labour Gathering Party (CO) 1,051 0.08
Republican Gathering 856 0.06
Total 1,371,682 100 79 79 158
Positive votes 1,371,682 87.81
Invalid/blank votes 190,460 12.19
Total votes 1,562,142 100
Registered voters/turnout 2,116,552 73.81
Sources:[5][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Results by province

[edit]
Province Concordance Civic Alliance Others
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
Buenos Aires 229,248 64.19 28 123,272 34.52 14 4,602 1.29
Buenos Aires City 90,874 33.18 10 171,545 62.63 22 11,494 4.20
Catamarca 19,444 100 2
Córdoba 97,333 80.34 10 19,421 16.03 5 4,400 3.63
Corrientes 54,661 93.82 7 3,598 6.18
Entre Ríos 31,303 35.18 3 12,704 14.28 44,982 50.55 6
Jujuy 11,414 81.88 2 2,526 18.12
La Rioja 13,535 89.75 2 1,546 10.25
Mendoza 29,064 75.56 5 9,402 24.44 1
Salta 22,316 85.68 3 3,729 14.32
San Juan 29,489 87.64 3 4,159 12.36
San Luis 12,154 69.84 2 3,128 17.97 1 2,121 12.19
Santa Fe 80,822 43.43 6 99,603 53.52 13 5,668 3.05
Santiago del Estero 51,823 86.37 6 3,241 5.40 4,935 8.23
Tucumán 50,182 80.77 7 11,944 19.23
Total 823,662 60.05 96 469,818 34.25 56 78,202 5.70 6

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Todo Argentina: Yrigoyen (in Spanish)
  2. ^ a b c Todo Argentina: Uriburu (in Spanish)
  3. ^ a b Todo Argentina: Fraude Patriotico (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Rock, David. Authoritarian Argentina. University of California Press, 1993.
  5. ^ a b Cantón, Darío (1968). Materiales para el estudio de la sociología política en la Argentina (PDF). Vol. Tomo I. Buenos Aires: Centro de Investigaciones Sociales - Torcuato di Tella Institute. p. 107.
  6. ^ Historia Electoral Argentina (1912-2007) (PDF). Ministry of Interior - Subsecretaría de Asuntos Políticos y Electorales. December 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2014.
  7. ^ Las Fuerzas Armadas restituyen el imperio de la soberanía popular: Las elecciones generales de 1946 (PDF). Vol. Tomo I. Buenos Aires: Imprenta de la Cámara de Diputados. 1946. p. 464.
  8. ^ "Con abrumador triunfo para la candidatura del General Justo terminó el escrutinio". El Orden. 12 December 1931.
  9. ^ "En la provincia de Catamarca terminó el escrutinio con un abrumador triunfo para Justo". Diario Santa Fe. 17 November 1931.
  10. ^ "Terminó el escrutinio en Córdoba, Santiago del Estero y Capital Federal". Diario Santa Fe. 2 December 1931.
  11. ^ "Escrutinio en Corrientes". El Litoral. 20 November 1931.
  12. ^ "En la provincia de Entre Ríos fue terminado hoy el escrutinio de los comicios". El Litoral. 28 November 1931.
  13. ^ "Los antipersonalistas han ganado la elección en La Rioja, ayer". El Orden. 26 November 1931.
  14. ^ "Las cifras oficiales de Mendoza". El Litoral. 29 November 1931.
  15. ^ "Con el triunfo del Partido Demócrata Nacional terminó ayer el escrutinio en Salta". Diario Santa Fe. 29 November 1931.
  16. ^ "La fórmula Justo-Matienzo se impuso ampliamente en la provincia de San Juan". Diario Santa Fe. 15 November 1931.
  17. ^ "En San Luis, Mendoza, La Rioja y Sgo. del Estero prosiguen los escrutinios". El Litoral. 25 November 1931.
  18. ^ "Elecciones de 1931". El Litoral. 3 March 1934.
  19. ^ "Tucumán: Se llega al final de la tarea". El Orden. 20 November 1931.