The Electoral Board of the Justicialist Party (PJ) has unanimously rejected the list presented by the governor of La Rioja, Ricardo Quintela, citing a lack of sufficient endorsements. A 24-hour deadline has been given to complete the delivery of the required documentation and correct the digital records submitted. The party board communicated that the list "Federales, un grito de corazón" does not meet the 2% requirement of the membership registry, which equates to 62,465 endorsements, as stated in the Electoral Regulations.
According to the official statement signed by the national representatives of the PJ, Juan Manuel Olmos and Eduardo G.A López Wesselhoefft, the list led by Quintela submitted 70,531 endorsements, of which 60,128 are verifiable and 48,549 are valid, falling 13,916 endorsements short of the required number. In contrast, the Electoral Board reported that the list "Primero la Patria," headed by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, has 106,125 endorsements plus 27,287 reserves, exceeding the 96,827 valid endorsements necessary to participate in the electoral process.
After this decision, Quintela's list is in an urgent situation to obtain the remaining endorsements within the allotted time; otherwise, it will not be able to compete in the party's internal elections. In this scenario, Quintela has expressed his discontent on social media, accusing a supposed "privatization" of the party and asserting that he will not allow Peronism to be taken from him. In La Rioja, they are considering the possibility of resorting to judicial means to resolve this situation regarding the governor's candidacy.
