In a letter published on Thursday, the far-right coalition La Libertad Avanza (LLA) has called for “further transparency” in Sunday’s presidential run-off and claimed that the Argentine gendarmería or military police was partially responsible for what they describe as “colossal fraud.” LLA requested that the Air Force and the Navy be given a more active role to “guarantee normal procedure.”

The stated objective of the letter, addressed to Federal Judge María Servini, was to report “irregularities” in the October 22 elections and “request different measures to avoid [them being] repeated.”

The coalition has yet to present formal legal complaints to mirror their increased “electoral fraud” rhetoric and there has been no evidence of irregularities. While LLA made multiple public claims of large disparities following the first round, the final vote count revealed the lowest-ever difference between the provisional and final tallies.

“Sadly […] the only information and proof provided on this was gathered in social media and people who decided not to identify themselves,” read the document, signed by LLA’s legal representatives Santiago Viola and Karina Milei — presidential candidate Javier Milei’s sister.

The accusations against Argentina’s gendarmería, or military police, are new: the institution is in charge of security operations and logistics on election day. Citing anonymous sources, LLA claimed that military police tampered with the vote count when handling ballot boxes— saying that unknown paid actors altered the name of the winning coalition from LLA to Unión por la Patria (UxP), for example. 

“Obviously, for personal security reasons, the people who have told us about these situations prefer to stay anonymous,” the document said. “Nevertheless, the intention behind [this document] is not to analyze the October 2023 elections but to take necessary precautions for the run-off.”

Viola told the Herald that although they were confident in their sources, they did not have video or photo evidence. He also expressed distrust for the General Electoral Directorate, in charge of the provisional count that is published the day of the elections, because it “is a government agency.” 

The provisional vote count made on election night is not binding — only the final count, made by the judiciary in the days following, is. The first round showed marginal differences between the two — the lowest-ever between the provisional and final vote tallies.

In response, Judge Servini formally authorized LLA to participate in the custody of the ballot boxes and the documentation, reminding them that this is already established in Article 106 of the country’s Electoral Code. She also said the Army is already in charge of security operations on election day, rejecting the addition of the Navy and Air Force. Servini has previously rejected LLA’s allegations of fraud, alongside the Electoral Court, saying that they have no concrete basis. 

Both Viola and Karina Milei have been summoned to testify about their claims on Friday morning.

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