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UDPATE This article was originally published on October 22 2024, prior to the elections. The second round, held on November 24, saw Yamandú Orsi, the centre-left candidate of the Frente Amplio, beat the candidate of the centre-right coalition by around 4%. The FA will assume the presidency on March 1 2025 (yes, in four months time) for a five year term.
Just like in the US, Uruguayans will head to the ballots this year to choose their next president. The 2024 Uruguay elections will be held on October 27, a Sunday, and the country stands still until late at night, when the preliminary results are announced.
Voting in Uruguay is compulsory and extends to all citizens aged 18 and over. According to the Constitution of Uruguay, voting is not only a right of the citizen but above all, it is a duty as a citizen, as well as an obligation.
What if you can’t get to the polling station? Those who cannot vote without a valid reason face a forty dollar fine or sanctions. Public servants get a portion of their salary retained, university students cannot take exams for two periods, and those employed by the state or graduates from public university have to pay double the fine.
Voting in Uruguay is proportional. There is no electoral college and all votes cast by the citizens directly go to choosing the candidates and parties. Uruguayans are really engaged in politics and it is a widely discussed topic, especially among family members at holiday gatherings. Have fun with your grandpa voting Cabildo Abierto and your young cousin defending Frente Amplio!
Fortunately though people talk about polarisation here, compared to other countries, the political scene is fairly healthy. You’ll see politicians from opposing parties sitting down together at a business event and people of different parties side by side encouraging votes for their party at the local market or dancing while handing out voting papers on the side of the road.
More than eighty percent of the vote is split among three parties:
Uruguay has its very own far-right, following global trends, with Cabildo Abierto—literally, town-hall meeting—a party founded during the previous election period by a former general. They gained over ten percent of the vote in 2019 but their support has fallen significantly. Other minor contenders include the Independent Party, the Intransigent Radical Ecologist Party, the Popular Union, and the Green Animalist Party, with around 1% of the vote each.
The current government (March 1 2020-March 1 2025) is made up of a coalition of the Blancos, the Colorados, Cabildo Abierto and the Independent Party. Their principal challengers are the Frente Amplio which held power for three periods during 2005 to 2020.
Founded in 1971, the Frente Amplio is a party made up of left and moderate centre-left parties and movements. The front was declared illegal during the 1973 military-civil coup d’état until 1984 when democracy was restored in Uruguay. Parties include the Communist Party, the Socialist Party, the Christian Democrats, the Movement of Popular Participation (or MPP, the political wing of the Tupamaros—a Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group in Uruguay that operated in the 1960s and 1970s—and now led by former president José “Pepe” Mujica) and many more.
Because this is Uruguay, all of the parties would be considered fairly moderate by international standards—with Uruguayans in general preferring moderation and continuity over radical change.
The candidates in 2024 for the 2025-2030 period are:
Frente Amplio: Yamandú Orsi (a teacher, former governor of Canelones, aged 57, declared wealth: 142,000 USD) for president and Carolina Cosse (an engineer, former head of Antel the telecomms provider and former governor of Montevideo, aged 62) for vicepresident.
Partido Nacional: Álvaro Delgado (a veterinarian, former Secretary of the Presidency, aged 55, declared wealth: more than 1,000,000 USD) for president and Valeria Ripoll (a civil servant, former trade unionist and TV personality, aged 42) for vicepresident.
Partido Colorado: Andrés Ojeda (a lawyer, former criminal defense attorney, aged 40, declared wealth: 257,000 USD) for president and Robert Silva (a lawyer and teacher, former president of the Central Directive Council of the National Administration of Public Education, aged 53) for vicepresident.
Cabildo Abierto: Guido Manini Ríos (a retired general officer, former Commander-in-Chief of the National Army, aged 66, declared wealth: more than 3,570,000 USD) for president and Lorena Quintana (a doctor, former director of the Program for the Prevention and Treatment of Addictions of the Ministry of Public Health) for vicepresident.
If you want to know what candidate you’re closest to ideologically, a news site made this short test—only available in Spanish—where it places you on a graph according to your answers so you can compare to every candidate.
The President of Uruguay is elected using the two-round system, with a run-off held between the two most-voted candidates if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round. With less than a week to go until the elections, polls indicate that
To win in the first round, any party needs an absolute majority, so more than 50% of the vote or what Uruguayans call la mitad más uno, translated as “half plus one”. The Frente Amplio is the only party with a chance of winning in the first round but it’s not very likely. In case there’s a second round, it would be held on November 24.
For the second round, the centre-right intends to form a coalition—just as they did in the last elections—with the specific aim of beating the Frente Amplio. The National Party, the Colorado Party, Cabildo Abierto and the Independent Party allied themselves in 2019, and once their candidate, current president Luis Lacalle Pou from the National Party, won (the Blancos had received more votes than the other coalition parties), they divided ministries and directories of public entities among their candidates.
On the day of the elections, Sunday October 27, citizens vote for their party of preference and choose their candidates by consulting party ‘lists’.
President and VP In June of any electoral year, each party holds elections to define their party’s candidates for president and vice president. Those candidates are at the head of the party’s list(s). So if you are a Frente Amplio supporter, any of the FA’s multiple lists have Orsi and Cosse at the top.
Senators and representatives But different sectors within each party offer different choices for members of the Senate (senadores) and the House of Representatives (diputados). The first spots are for the senate candidates, and following are the representatives. The order affects the percentage of votes each candidate gets. Different lists include candidates which can appear in different ranking order across different lists of the same party. If this sounds complicated, it is. Uruguayans study their election system in civics in high school and most still have a vague idea of how it all works.
Referendums Besides electing candidates, voters also participate to directly have a voice on specific issues. For instance, in a past referendum, Uruguayans voted to keep water utilities in public hands, when the government of the moment was in favour of privatising. In 2024, there are two referendums: one to allow night raids (currently it is illegal to enter any ‘dwelling’ at night for any reason) and one to reform the pension system.
People visiting Uruguay during the election period see signs dotted around the cities or roadsides with a name and a number eg “Laura 71”, and ask, what does this mean? Mystery revealed.
These are the lists mentioned above. Major candidates may create their own list and attach their name or sector to it. Each list has a number maintained throughout elections, for example, the Socialists are always List 90, the Communists are List 1001, the current president’s list is 404, and so on. The numbers tend to be chosen at random or because of historic prescendence (the lower numbers are typically held by the traditional parties, which have been around for over 100 years).
When you see a sign hung from a streetlight with a number and a name, that’s usually the name of the candidate heading the list and the list number to vote for. The Electoral Court publishes a guide to every list number per party and department, you can check it here.
Voting works like this. In the run-up to the elections, the political parties distribute lists to the public (on the street, at events, from political party bases), so that citizens can read the names of the candidates. If they like the list, they must save it till voting day and then put it inside a sealed envelope to drop in the ballot box. Lists are also provided at voting booths but you could run the risk—especially when voting for a lesser known list—of your preferred list not being there (the parties are responsible for getting their lists to the booths). There is no writing on a vote unlike many countries, in fact if you were to write on your list it could be annulled.
To safeguard the ballots, members of the army are stationed at every voting circuit and there’s a strict overseeing system to prevent fraud and miscounts.
Sadly, this system produces lots of littering. You’ll find lists carpeting the sidewalks in most busy streets.
If you’re a new citizen you don’t automatically acquire the right to vote. You must apply in the Electoral Court to get your credencial cívica. The deadline to complete this procedure expired in April 2024 and will reopen in July 2025. Make sure you register then. Uruguayans believe that voting is an essential part of the strong democratic system here.
To register you have to head to the Electoral Court with your cédula and a Certificate of Residency. The procedure does not require a prior appointment. You will be attended to on a first-come, first-served basis. The registration period will reopen in July 2025.
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6 responses
We were looking to escape the war mongering Looney Left in USA, to Escape the WOKE mental Disease, the Communist move the USA was in. Uruguay was #1 option till it elected a Leftist who has adopted everything that is collapsing religion, economies and morals.
Very depressing. Glad we waited to see if the evil of Leftism had spread to them in Uruguay first before selling and moving.
Dear John, yes… perhaps Uruguay is not a good option for you as it is a very moderate nation. Best wishes — Team Guru’Guay
You sound equally radicalized. Try Costa Rica. You won’t like it here. I’m loving it and how everybody, no matter what they do, are considered equal.
That’s good, because we uruguayans don’t want radicalized people who call people having human rights and respecting each other a “mental disease”. We live very peaceful lives here. Please stay there. Thank you!
Can a citizen deposit a ballot in which no candidate or list has been chosen? I guess what I’m really asking is, while the government can tell that you voted, can it also see HOW you voted, or is your vote confidential?
Voting is confidential. And yes, you could deposit an empty envelope which is called voting ‘en blanco’. — Cheers, Karen