Sáenz Peña Law
TheSáenz Peña Law(Spanish:Ley Sáenz Peña) was Law 8871 ofArgentina,sanctioned by theNational Congresson 10 February 1912, which established theuniversal,secretandcompulsorymalesuffragethough the creation of an electoral list (Padrón Electoral). It was approved during thepresidencyofRoque Sáenz Peña,main supporter of the law, and was published in the official government bulletin on 13 February 1912.
Theright to vote for femaleswas not covered by this law until 1947, during the first presidency ofJuan Perón.The "universal" scope of the original law included only native andnaturalizedmen but not women andworking classmen who werenon-citizen immigrants,a very significant portion of the population at the time. Indeed, inBuenos Airesin 1914, 49% of the population was foreign born.[1]In the entire country, 30% of all residents were foreign born according to the 1914 national census.[2]The right to vote was not extended to immigrants due to concerns among the governing elite that migrants would back "extremist" parties.[3]
Origin[edit]
Sáenz Peña made his intentions about the voting system public during his first speech before the National Congress, in 1910. Interior Minister Indalecio Gómez proposed a reform that left the compilation of the electoral list in the hands of the War Ministry (males over 18 were recorded when called forconscription), and the judicial branch was put in charge of dictating who would organize the elections and who would be allowed to vote. That deprived the executive branch of its former ability towrite and manipulate the electoral list.
Consequences[edit]
The conservatives, who had stayed in power for decades through dubious and fraudulent elections, could not consolidate a political party without popular support.Hipólito Yrigoyen,the candidate of theRadical Civic Union(Unión Cívica Radical,UCR), won thefirst presidential electionsafter the new law by a considerable distance, and the UCR became the most powerful political force.
As a consequence of the law, all political parties had to reorganize themselves, revising their regulations, creating electoral platforms, opening local seats and periodically gathering in assemblies.
References[edit]
- ^Tercer Censo Nacional, Tomo I, Antecedentes y comentarios (Buenos Aires: Talleres Gráficos de L.J. Rosso y Cía, 1916), 202.
- ^Tercer censo nacional, tomo I, antecedentes y comentarios (Buenos Aires: Talleres gráficos de L.J. Rosso y Cía, 1916), 205–206.
- ^Rock, David.El radicalismo argentino, 1890-1930(in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Amorrortu Editores. p. 265.ISBN9789505187089.
- (in Spanish)Sucesos Históricos Argentinos.