Several polls in Argentina show a notable parity between the ruling party's candidate, current minister Sergio Massa, and the libertarian economist Javier Milei, the leading opposition figure in the South American country.
According to a survey by the consulting firm Solmoraigo, Milei has a voting intention of 44.2%, slightly higher than Massa's (42.5%).
Likewise, the projection of valid affirmative votes says that Milei would get 51.02% of the votes while Massa would get 48.98%.
The survey also says that, right now, for Argentine voters, the country's main problem is inflation (39.3%), followed by insecurity (19.2%) and poverty (9.4%).
Likewise, the image of government management is profoundly negative, standing at 73.6% compared to the 20.8% who see it in a positive image.
Specifically, among the presidential candidates who will compete in the runoff on November 19, Milei has a net favorable image of 43.1% compared to a negative image of 51.1%. Similar numbers to Massa, whose positive image is 41.2% compared to the negative image of 52.9%.
This study also surveyed the behavior of voters in the general elections in Argentina, which placed Massa first with 36.5% of the votes and Milei second with just over 30%.
According to the survey, both Milei and Massa voters practically did not change their votes; however, the interesting thing is that 61.9% of Patricia Bullrich's voters indicated they would be opting for the libertarian candidate after the leader of Together for Change announced her support for the economist.
On the other hand, Massa only managed to gather 13.8% of Bullrich's voters in the survey.
Meanwhile, 15.8% of this group of voters said they would submit a blank vote, and 8.5% still do not know who to vote for.
Another key electorate, that of Juan Schiaretti from Córdoba, is mainly inclined to vote for Massa, with 42.8% compared to 29.2% who will choose Milei.
However, 13.6% of these voters remain undecided, and 14.4% say they will submit a null or blank ballot.
Finally, those who did not go to vote or voted invalid opted for Milei by 32.1% compared to 22.4% who would vote for Massa. 25.7% still do not know who to vote for, and 19.8% say they will cast a blank or null vote.
This study, which interviewed 1,800 people over 16 years of age, was carried out between November 3 and 5 and has a margin of error of 2.31%, so Milei's advantage over Massa is within that range margin.
A very close election
The Solmoraigo survey is not the only one showing a technical tie between Javier Milei and Sergio Massa.
The consulting firm Circuitos, in a survey carried out between November 6 and 8 among 2,161 people, showed that Massa has a slight advantage over Milei of two percentage points within its sample: 44.2% to 42.1%.
However, the consulting firm recognizes that the margin of error is 3.5%, and among its respondents, 9.8% said they would not vote for "anyone," and another 3.9% still do not know who to vote for.
So far, most polls and studies in Argentina show a minimal difference between Milei and Massa in the runoff and a predominantly negative image of both candidates.
Inflation, without a doubt, continues to be the primary concern of most Argentines.
