Electoral registration

Since voting is compulsory in Uruguay, every Uruguayan citizen upon turning 18 must register in the "National Civic Registry", an electoral roll of citizens with the right to vote, administered by the Electoral Court.^[3] After registration, the person obtains the Credencial Cívica, the official document used to cast the vote.^[4]

Polling procedure

The voting procedure is detailed in Law No. 7,812 –known as the "Elections Law"–.^[5] To cast the vote, Uruguayan citizens must appear before a polling station determined based on the series and number of their registration in the electoral roll.^[6]

Having verified the identity of the voter and their inclusion in the electoral roll, the polling station officials give them an envelope to go to the voting booth, known as Cuarto secreto (Spanish for 'Secret room'), and insert the ballot inside, guaranteeing the secrecy of the vote.^[7] Once outside the cuarto secreto, the voter places the envelope inside a closed ballot box.^[8]

Election

Inauguration

2019 general election

On 25 November, preliminary results in the runoff election showed Lacalle Pou with a majority (48.71%) by 28,666 votes over Martínez (47.51%), which delayed the announcement of a winner as 35,229 absentee votes needed to be counted.^[9][10] Martínez later conceded defeat on 28 November.^[10] On 30 November, final votes counts confirmed Lacalle Pou as the winner with 48.8% of the total votes cast over Martínez with 47.3%.^[11]