Vote counting begins in Paraguay: poll points to a technical tie

Paraguayans went to the polls this Sunday (30) to elect their president and vice president, legislative and departmental authorities. The calculation has already started and the results should come out today.

A survey by the AtlasIntel Institute carried out this afternoon, before the close of voting, shows a scenario of a technical tie, with a slight advantage for candidate Efraín Alegre, from the opposition, with 37.6%. The governing Santiago “Santi” Peña appears right behind, with 36%.

The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points. The survey was carried out entirely over the internet, with a sample of over 1,600 respondents.

See the results:

• Efraín Alegre: 37.3%
• Santi Pena: 36%
• Payo Cubas: 19.9%
• Euclides Acevedo: 1.9%
• José Luis Chilavert: 0.8%
• Whites: 2.3%
• Did not respond: 1.4%
• Others: 0.4%

Almost 4.8 million voters were able to participate in choosing the future president and vice president of Paraguay, in addition to 17 governors, deputies and senators.

Thirteen slates (made up of candidates for president and vice president) are disputing the succession of the current head of the national executive branch, Mario Abdo Benítez, and the right to lead the country for the next five years.

In addition to defining who will be the next Paraguayan president and vice president and 17 governors, voters are also choosing 45 incumbent senators and 30 alternates; 80 titular deputies and 80 substitutes, in addition to 257 titular members and 257 substitutes for the so-called Departmental Boards, equivalent to the existing state legislative assemblies in Brazil.

Among the 4,782,940 million eligible voters, 41,505 are registered to vote in other countries where ballot boxes have been installed in embassies and consulates, including Brazil, Argentina, Spain and the United States.

(Published by Lucas Rocha, with information from Agência Brasil)