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The sister of Javier Milei, the radical libertarian candidate in Argentina’s presidential race, has formally accused security forces of committing electoral fraud against him, raising tensions ahead of Sunday’s run-off vote against economy minister Sergio Massa.
Karina Milei, a close adviser to her brother and a legal representative for his La Libertad Avanza party, filed a complaint in an electoral court in Buenos Aires on Thursday, alleging that the military police force charged with handling ballot boxes in Argentina had participated in a “colossal fraud” during the first round of elections in October.
Javier Milei scored 30 per cent at the first round, below pollsters’ expectations and behind the 37 per cent for Massa of the ruling centre-left Peronist coalition. Polls suggest the second round will be very closely fought.
Milei is a political outsider whose insurgent hard-right campaign has prompted comparisons with the US’s Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, who both made unfounded fraud claims after losing re-election.
In interviews, Milei has claimed that votes were “stolen” from him at an August primary election, without offering evidence or making specific accusations. Thursday’s complaint is the first formal allegation submitted by Milei’s team.
The complaint, which cites sources “who wish to remain anonymous for safety reasons”, alleges that police in some regions “swap the content of ballot boxes and documentation for others, which they modify in favour of the ruling party and Sergio Massa, which considerably alters the election result”.
Officials in the Peronist government accused Milei of trying to sow doubt about Argentina’s electoral system, which has not suffered any major fraud cases since the country’s return to democracy in 1983.
Security minister Aníbal Fernández called the allegation “cheap and crude” and said he would file a legal complaint against the party.
“I am not going to allow them to go forward with this rubbish,” he told a local television station. “You have to tell society that it’s not true that these things are happening, neither with the [military police] nor any other force.”
The legal complaint filed by Karina Milei and LLA representative Santiago Viola called for electoral authorities to take steps to “avoid crimes” being committed at Sunday’s run-off, including inviting what it deemed “honourable forces” such as the air force and navy to oversee the transportation of ballot boxes.
In response, Judge María Servini noted the LLA was already allowed to send representatives to accompany ballot boxes until they reached electoral authorities. Monitors from all candidates’ parties are entitled to attend polling stations in Argentina during the voting process.
LLA, which was founded in 2021 and has a patchy nationwide structure, has argued that its lack of election monitors may have affected the first-round result. The PRO, the centre-right party of former president Mauricio Macri, who has endorsed Milei, has said it will help LLA fill gaps on Sunday.
On Tuesday, electoral authorities in Buenos Aires Province, home to a third of Argentines, said LLA had failed to provide enough ballots for Sunday. The party has said it intends to keep hold of the ballots until election day to prevent them from being destroyed or stolen.
In Argentina, political parties provide papers featuring their candidates. Voters place a paper from their chosen party into an envelope, which then goes into the ballot box.
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