The government of Argentine President Javier Milei on Wednesday submitted a bill to Congress aiming to overhaul the nation’s elections — urging the need to “fix a system that is fundamentally flawed” and make it more transparent and less costly.
One of the main reforms presented in the bill seeks the elimination of Argentina’s notoriously questioned PASO open primary system, a process that the Argentine presidency described as a “failed experiment.”
In addition to sweeping reforms to Argentina’s economy seeking to overturn nearly two decades’ worth of socialist policies, President Milei has spearheaded efforts to overhaul Argentina’s electoral system. Thanks to the efforts of the ruling Liberty Advances Party, Argentina dramatically overhauled its ballot system last year, going from an overly complex, multi-ballot method to a single paper ballot — a pro-electoral transparency reform that yielded timely results during the October 2025 parliamentary elections. At the time, Milei acknowledged the role of the new single-paper ballot in the quick and transparent results, noting that it “put an end to cheating.”
Infobae reported that the 79-article-long bill presented on Wednesday by the Argentine executive contains reforms to Argentina’s main electoral laws and related norms and regulations. The Argentine presidency summarized the main reforms proposed by the bill in an official statement and explained that the legislation calls for the elimination of the Simultaneous and Mandatory Open Primaries (PASO), a mandatory process for all Argentine political parties to determine the candidates for an election. The PASO primary process was suspended for the 2025 legislative elections.
The presidency described PASO as “a failed experiment that sought to promote the false dichotomy of ‘open primaries,'” which cost Argentines 45 billion Argentine pesos (about $32 million) in 2023 alone and “failed to resolve any significant primary race.”
“From now on, the primaries will once again be an internal party matter, not a matter for the government. Argentines shouldn’t have to foot the bill for politicians’ internal disputes,” the Argentine presidential office said.
The second proposed reform listed by the presidency calls to raise membership thresholds for registering a political party and vote thresholds for parties to maintain their legal status. The Argentine presidency said that the measure aims of putting an end to the “‘rubber-stamp’ system that turns every election into a business venture.” In addition, the bill introduces digital membership registration provisions to modernize registries and eliminate bureaucratic filters that block new political voices in Argentina.
The bill also proposes the complete elimination of Argentina’s allocated airtime provisions, which currently requires that media outlets provide free airtime for partisan propaganda. The Argentine presidency described it as a “hidden media subsidy that Argentines never voted for in any budget.”
Additionally, the bill calls for provisions towards increased transparency in political party financing. The Argentine presidency explained that, presently, it is estimated that only ten percent of the money used to fund election campaigns in Argentina is officially recorded — while the remaining 90 percent is “black money” that often comes from illicit activities.
“Modern democracies have already resolved this issue: they allow individuals and companies to contribute in a regulated, transparent, and traceable manner,” the Argentine presidency said. “This bill does the same and adds the option for parties that wish to completely forego state funding and finance themselves entirely through voluntary contributions to do so.”
Lastly, and “no less important,” the Argentine presidency said that the electoral reform bill incorporates the Argentine government’s “Clean Slate” proposal, stating that individuals convicted on appeal of intentional crimes will be barred from running for office or holding positions in the civil service. The Argentine presidency said that the Clean Slate proposal is not a radical idea, but rather, “the bare minimum of decency expected of a democracy,” stressing that it “makes sense” on grounds that “if someone cannot be a candidate, they cannot be a public official either.”
“Argentina’s electoral system has a fundamental problem: it is expensive, opaque, encourages financing through illicit funds, and senselessly subsidizes political leadership. It is a system tailor-made for the political class to protect itself,” the Argentine presidency said.”
“President Javier Milei was elected with a clear mandate to end the privileges of the political caste, and this reform is a crucial step on that path. The time has come to return power to the Argentine people: let politics once again serve the people,” the statement concluded.
According to Infobae, one of the bill’s reforms would prohibit political parties from contracting services provided by foreign nationals — a restriction that applies to any type of services required by parties in the course of their activities, with the aim of limiting external influence on the operation and financing of national party politics.
The bill also codifies the Single Paper Ballot system successfully used in the October 2025 elections as the mandatory voting instrument for all public offices in the nation. Campaign dates will start 60 days before any given election and campaigns will end 48 hours prior to the election, with penalties for those who campaign outside the designated period, including the loss of public funding for one to four years and the imposition of fines.
Additionally, the inauguration of public works projects, the launching of government programs, and any official activity that could influence the will of the electorate would be prohibited during the 25 days preceding an election. Government advertising may not encourage or discourage voting for any political group or candidate. If the bill is approved, existing political parties in Argentina will have until June 30, 2027, to comply with all of the new provisions and reforms.
“We eliminate the PASO: Enough of forcing Argentines to pay for the elite’s internal squabbles. We change the financing: no more politics living off your pocket. Clean Slate: Corrupt officials OUT forever,” President Milei wrote on social media on Tuesday in anticipation of the bill being introduced on Wednesday.
“Impunity is over. The party’s over, Long Live Freedom, Damnit!” he concluded.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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