1963 Argentine general election

Presidential election
← 1958 7 July 1963 Mar 1973 →
476 members of the Electoral College 239 votes needed to win
Registered	11,356,240
Turnout	85.50%
Nominee Arturo Illia Oscar Alende Pedro Aramburu Party UCRP UCRI UDELPA Alliance UDELPA -PDP Running mate Carlos Perette Celestino Gelsi Arturo Etchevehere/ Horacio Thedy Electoral vote 168 110 75 States carried 11 +CF 4 1 Popular vote 2,441,064 1,593,002 1,362,596 Percentage 31.90% 20.82% 17.81%   Nominee Emilio Olmos Jr. Horacio Sueldo [es] Party FNPC PDC Running mate Emilio Jofré [es] Francisco Eduardo Cerro [es] Electoral vote 31 23 States carried 3 0 Popular vote 511,779 434,823 Percentage 6.69% 5.68%
Most voted candidate by province.
President before election José María Guido UCRI ElectedPresident Arturo Illia UCRP
Legislative election
← 1962 7 July 1963 1965 →
192 seats in theChamber of Deputies
Turnout	85.60%
Party Vote % Seats Chamber of Deputies People's Radical Civic Union 30.68% 72 Intransigent Radical Civic Union 19.55% 40 Union of the Argentine People 8.32% 13 Democratic Progressive Party 7.05% 12 National Federation of Center Parties 5.69% 9 Christian Democratic Party 5.54% 8 Argentine Socialist Party 3.89% 6 Democratic Socialist Party 3.89% 5 Popular Union 2.45% 5 Others 12.94% 22 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results by province

TheArgentine general election of 1963 was held on 7 July. Voters chose both the President and their legislators; with a turnout of 85.6%, resulting in the election ofArturo Illia asPresident of Argentina.

The spectre of military intervention so much in evidence after the election ofArturo Frondizi in 1958 became reality following his coerced resignation on March 29, 1962. HisUCRI candidates had done well; but the evening's big surprise,Andrés Framini's election as Governor ofBuenos Aires Province (one of tenPeronists to win gubernatorial polls that night), proved unacceptable to thearmed forces.^[1] An array of political leaders had been lobbying the military against Frondizi, as well: centristUCRP leaderRicardo Balbín (whom Frondizi defeated on a splinter ticket in 1958) and conservative economistÁlvaro Alsogaray (whom Frondizi sidestepped in favor of pro-industry economistRogelio Julio Frigerio) both openly celebrated the president's unceremonious exit.^[2]

The matter of Frondizi's successor, itself, became a subject of contention within the armed forces. The two opposing camps defined themselves as either "Blues" ((in Spanish)Azules, at pains to maintain a patina of legality over the destabilizing intervention) or "Reds" ((in Spanish)Colorados, lacking any compunction against imposing a prolonged and repressive dictatorship). The stalemate lasted merely a day because most of theArmy High Command were "Blues," whose preference of a "legal" solution to the vacuum was supported by most of the press and the Argentine public,^[2] then enjoying Latin America's widest access to themedia.^[3] Relying onconstitutional guidelines, they named the reluctantSenate PresidentJosé María Guido Head of State.^[2]

Guido, a moderate senator from then-remoteRío Negro Province, had been elected on Frondizi's 's UCRI ticket. His prompt resignation from the UCRI and annulment of the March 18 mid-term elections did not immediately dispel the threat of a coup attempt, however, and mutinies in April and August resulted in the appointment of Army GeneralJuan Carlos Onganía (who successfully rebelled against his "Red" superiors) as Head of the Military Joint Chiefs. The more stable military panorama was overshadowed by economic worries.^[2] Following a brief period of robust growth led by industrial production, President Guido's economic team, led by Alsogaray, imposed a freshdevaluation and austerity measures such as strict credit controls and even the payment of state salaries with nearly-worthless bonds. GDP fell by 4% in 1962-63 and unemployment rose to nearly 9%.^[4]

TheRadical Civic Union (UCR) was again divided between the Intransigent (UCRI) and more conservative Popular (UCRP) factions as they convened in March 1963. The UCRP nominated formerCórdoba Province Vice-GovernorArturo Illia, a country doctor fondly remembered for his work in the Public Health Committee inCongress; Balbín, who still led the UCRP, opted out of the nomination at the party's March 10 convention believing that a less anti-Peronist choice would give the UCRP a critical advantage over the rival UCRI.^[2]

The UCRI, as they had done in 1958, initially hoped to secure the exiledJuan Perón's endorsement who, fromMadrid, still directly controlled a fifth of the Argentine electorate. Permitted to field local and Lower House candidates (but still banned from either the Senate or the Presidency)Peronist voters, like in 1962, rallied behind theUP and six other parties. Their intention to run in the less-than-free elections was itself in defiance of Perón, however, who refused to endorse "neo-Peronist" candidates and instead called forblank ballots. Alejandro Leloir, who had fallen out with fellow neo-Peronists as well as Perón, ran for President independently on the Three Flags ticket; named for the "three Peronist flags" of sovereignty, independence, and social justice, this became the only Peronist ticket allowed on the presidential ballot in 1963.^[5]

Against opposition from former Buenos Aires GovernorOscar Alende, Frondizi and Perón initially agreed on a "National Popular Front," fielding a respected, moderately conservative publisher as the nominee,Vicente Solano Lima. Tricked by a similar move in 1958, the military objected, however, leading to the brutal1963 Argentine Navy Revolt on April 2, which cost 24 lives and effectively scuttled the Perón-Frondizi front. These incidents led former PresidentPedro Aramburu run on his UDELPA ticket, thus hoping to provide those most likely to support a military coup a suitable, center-right choice instead. He was also endorsed by the more moderateDemocratic Progressive Party, whose leader, Horacio Thedy, ran as Aramburu's running mate; making fears of Perón's return his battle horse, Aramburu's slogan was unequivocal:Vote UDELPA...and HE won't return!^[2] Other anti-Peronist conservatives supported formerCórdoba Mayor Emilio Olmos and the FNPC.^[6]

Hamstrung by Frondizi's open enmity against Alende for the latter's rejection of the ultimately aborted Front, as well as Perón's call for blank ballots, Alende's UCRI was defeated in an upset by Dr. Arturo Illia and the UCRP.^[4]

The renewed ban on the participation of Peronist candidates resulted in the highest percentage of blank votes in Argentine electoral history;^[4] Leloir's Three Flags ticket received 4 electoral votes.^[7]

• Radical Civic Union (centrist): Former DeputyArturo Umberto Illia of Córdoba
• Intransigent Radical Civic Union (center-left): Former GovernorOscar Alende of Buenos Aires
• UDELPA (conservative): Formerde facto PresidentPedro Eugenio Aramburu of Córdoba
• National Federation of Center Parties (conservative): Former Córdoba Mayor Emilio Olmos
• Christian Democratic Party (centrist): Former Deputy Horacio Sueldo of Buenos Aires
• Socialist Party: Former SenatorAlfredo Palacios of Buenos Aires

• 
  Illia
• 
  Alende
• 
  Aramburu
• 
  Sueldo
• 
  Palacios

• Legislative elections in Argentina
• 1963 elections in Argentina
• Presidential elections in Argentina
• July 1963 in South America

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