Electiones, Yeah!....what i can't get a drink!

Sunday was election day for Argentina. Which meant for me, no drinks on Saturday.

Yes you read right. The day before elections in Argentina, no one is allowed to sell liquor and dance clubs are closed. This is suppose to make all those reckless Argentine voters suddenly sober up and think seriously about the power of one vote.

But seriously, it does help to seta tone of importance to the elections, even if it is only the illusion of importance.

Every single Argentine has known for months that Cristina Kirchner would win the election, and win she did with 46% of the vote, 1% more than she needed to guarantee there would be no run off.

So let me explain this clearly and slowly because it took me 2 days and 2 people plus the NY Times to understand: 1. a candidate needs 45% of the vote to win the election or 40% of the vote with a gap of more than 10% between him/her and the next candidate 2. if neither occurs there is a runoff election between the two top runners.

But that is a mute point since Cristina slaughtered her competition- like everyone said she would, even those who opposed her.

What I guess stuck me about the elections is how even though it seemed so predestined, Argentina seemed still seemed so passionate about the elections

Yet maybe that passion is an illusion too. Voting is not a choice in Argentina it is the obligation of a citizen, with a supposed penalty attached for not completing the duty.

Illusion or not, Argentina successfully got almost all of its population to vote and the majority voted with passion. It is something the United States has not accomplished since the 18th century when only white, property owning men could vote.

Sorry to say it grandma :) but maybe the United States should take a page from Argentina, force the vote and ban liquor. Oh wouldn't dad be happy with that.