Sharjah24 – Reuters: Argentines head to the polls on Sunday for midterm primaries in a litmus test for the center-left Peronist government of Alberto Fernandez, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crises and rising poverty.
Voting stations around the South American nation will open at 8 a.m. (1100 GMT) and close some 10 hours later, with exit polls before official result start to come around 11 p.m. Pollsters expect the ruling party to suffer some losses.
With most candidates already set, the vote is in effect a huge straw poll ahead of the Nov. 14 midterm ballot, where 127 seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies are up for grabs out of a total of 257, as well as 24 seats out of 72 in the Senate.
Pre-election polls show the ruling party falling back, which could threaten its majority in the Senate as well as its hold over the largest bloc in the lower house, where it has a slim lead of some five seats over the main opposition party.
While many voters feel let down by both main parties, a lengthy recession, rampant inflation and poverty levels rising to 42% have hit the government hard, despite recent signs of an economic recovery and falling coronavirus cases.
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