Report says election spending barely fell without PASO, challenging libertarian argument

Argentina’s decision to hold legislative elections without the PASO primaries produced only a small reduction in public spending, according to a report that challenges one of the government’s main arguments for abolishing them.

Public election spending in 2025 fell by 14.478 billion pesos, or 3%, compared with the 2021 legislative elections, when voters took part in both PASO and the general election. The difference amounted to about $9.5 million, far below the more than $200 million in savings cited by then-Interior Minister Diego Santilli.

The Éforo Foundation’s report, titled “Electoral Policies in Argentina: Citizen Report,” identified logistics as the main reason the savings remained limited. Correo Argentino’s distribution and deployment services cost 225 billion pesos in 2025, the highest figure since 2007. That amount represented 48% of total election spending, even though voters cast ballots on only one day.

“

We are going to eliminate PASO and save more than US$200 million for Argentines.

The logistics bill exceeded the average recorded in presidential election years with a runoff. It offset savings in other areas, including state contributions for ballot printing, expenses for the General Electoral Command’s security operations, and extraordinary campaign funding. The report also linked changes to the introduction of the paper single-ballot system.

Éforo said Argentina’s electoral spending shows “strong downward rigidity,” meaning that many costs added after PASO began in 2011 remained even when the primaries were suspended. The report drew its data from the Economy Ministry, the Interior Ministry and the national statistics agency Indec. The comparison used 2021 because both elections were midterm legislative contests.

“

The cost of Argentina’s electoral politics shows strong downward rigidity.