BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentines waited anxiously Sunday for the results of a presidential election that could upend the country's political scene, with far-right outsider Javier Milei the frontrunner in a tight race.
Latin America's third-biggest economy is creaking under triple-digit inflation and record poverty levels that have provided fertile ground for Milei who has seduced voters with his rants against the "thieving and useless political class."
Polling stations closed Sunday evening with preliminary results expected in a matter of hours.
To avoid a runoff election on November 19, a candidate needs to win 45 percent of the vote Sunday, or 40 percent with a difference of 10 points or more over the nearest rival.
While Milei has led in the polls, analyst Carlos Gervasoni of the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella said these have proven unreliable and "anything can happen."
Most analysts and pollsters believe Milei will either face beleaguered Economy Minister Sergio Massa in a runoff, or conservative former security minister Patricia Bullrich.
Once one of the richest countries in the world, Argentina has found itself unable to escape decades of fiscal crises marked by debt, financial mismanagement, and inflation that now stands at almost 140 percent year-on-year.
Milei, who turned 53 Sunday, has vowed to dollarize the economy, slash spending, and "dynamite" the central bank.
- 'The lesser evil' -
Election authorities announced a provisional figure of 74 percent voter turnout among some 35 million registered.
Many casting their ballots were jittery over the impact of the vote on the volatile peso and inflation, and said they were simply choosing the least worst option.
"There is so much uncertainty ... and fear, out of these candidates, there are none who represent me. There is no one who can change what we need here in Argentina," said graphic designer Maria Olguin, 40, who did not want to reveal her vote.
"I'll choose the lesser evil," said trader Raul Narvaez, 64.
With 40 percent of the population living in poverty and a middle class brought to its knees, many voters are keen to see the back of the traditional parties they view as the architects of their misery.
"Obviously I voted for Milei," said Esteban Montenegro, 24, who works in sales in the capital Buenos Aires.
"But it is not that I have all the confidence in the world... but he is the only one giving solid, transparent proposals."
- 'Anarcho-capitalist' -
Milei, a libertarian economist, blindsided pollsters when he surged to the front of the election race, winning an August primary with 30 percent of votes.
Analysts say his spectacular surge follows the regional trend towards anti-establishment parties, and he is often compared to former US president Donald Trump or Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro.
The self-described "anarcho-capitalist" with disheveled hair and a rock-star persona has shown up at rallies with a powered-up chainsaw, vowing to slash public spending by 15 percent.
He is against abortion and sex education, wants to ditch about ten government ministries, and does not believe humans are responsible for climate change.
- Traditional parties -
The charismatic economy minister, Massa represents the ruling center-left Peronist coalition, a populist movement heavy on state intervention and welfare programs that has dominated Argentine politics for decades but has grown deeply unpopular.
Having overseen the country's recent economic pains, he has been an easy punching bag for his rivals.
To woo voters, Massa went on a pre-election spending spree, slashing income tax for much of the population in a move analysts said would only make the country's fragile financial situation worse.
The other frontrunner is the stern and tough-talking Bullrich, who has also called for a harsh audit of the country's plethora of social assistance programs, budget cuts, and the liberalization of currency exchange controls.
Bullrich served in the government of former president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), a pro-market, non-Peronist who failed in his promise to contain spending and took out a record $44 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund, which has bailed Argentina out 22 times despite several massive defaults.
Voters are fed up with "politicians who have been highly corrupt, highly incompetent, who have never paid attention to something we learn in high school, that you shouldn't spend more than you earn," said Buenos Aires-based economist Andres Borenstein.