Elections in Uruguay


Uruguay elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature.

Presidential elections

The president and the vice-president are elected on one ballot for a five-year term by the people.
Each party must elect its candidates for President and Vice-President in primary elections, which are usually held in June. The selected candidates face the electorate in the general elections in October. If no candidate obtains the absolute majority of votes, there is a runoff between the two most-voted candidates.

Parliamentary elections

The General Assembly has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies has 99 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation. The Chamber of Senators has 31 members elected for a five-year term by proportional representation and the Vice-president.
Uruguay has a multi-party system, with three dominant political parties, with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party.

Schedule

Election

Inauguration

Latest elections

2019 general election

On 25 November, preliminary results in the runoff election showed Lacalle Pou with a majority by 28,666 votes over Martínez, which delayed the announcement of a winner as 35,229 absentee vote needed to be counted. Martínez later conceded defeat on 28 November. 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%.

Past elections and referendums

Local elections