Argentina went to the polls today in Presidential and legislative elections, and according to preliminary results, Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (partner of current President Néstor Kirchner) has won the presidency with 46.3% of the vote. Her nearest rival, Elisa Carrió, gained only 23.7%, but in a crowded field of 14 candidates was hoping to make it to a run-off (under Argentina's two-round system, the winner needs to get 45%, or at least 40% with a 10-point lead, otherise there is a run-off between the two top candidates). So, Argentina has its first elected woman president; unfortunately, she's a Peronist.
(Argentina's first woman president, Isabel Martínez de Perón, was originally elected as vice-president and succeeded after her husband died. She was toppled by the military shortly afterwards, and is currently under house arrest in Spain awaiting extradition back to Argentina for crimes against humanity).
