Argentina to deploy 90,000 troops to safeguard elections

Argentina would deploy more than 90,000 troops to safeguard the mid-term legislative elections, the defense ministry said on Thursday. A total of 91,671 troops will be stationed throughout 24 electoral districts to guard 13,209 voting stations, where 90,696 ballot boxes are to be installed, the ministry said in a statement. The troops will be backed by 5,000 vehicles, eight helicopters, two airplanes and seven boats, as well as army telecommunications and computer equipment, the ministry said. In remote, difficult to reach parts of the country, the army planned to transport troops and equipment via 80 mules, it said. The security operation will also cover 243 prisons where voting will be carried out for the mid-term elections, which will elect 24 senators to renew a third of the Senate, and half of the 257- member Chamber of Deputies, it added. According to Argentina's Constitution, legislative power is vested in a bicameral Congress, comprising the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies has 257 directly-elected members, chosen for four years, and approximately half its members are renewed every two years. The Senate has 72 directly-elected members, who serve on six-year terms, and a third of the seats are renewed every two years. A new electoral law passed in 2012 for the first time allows Argentineans who are aged 16 and 17 years old to vote, meaning there are 1.2 million more eligible voters in the country with a population of more than 41 million.