The one certainty was that the ruling Alianza would have a hard time in the legislative elections held on 14 October. It ended up taking a serious political drubbing -but the outcome also carried a much more worrying message of widespread disenchantment with the entire political establishment. This was expressed as what was locally baptised the voto bronca, the `rage vote': an unprecedentedly high number of blank or spoilt ballots, and a very high rate of abstention.
In practical, political-power terms, even though the full official returns are not yet available, the election results are easy to summarise:

The Alianza lost its plurality in the chamber of deputies to the opposition Partido Justicialista (PJ).

The PJ strengthened its majority in the senate, even as the Alianza increased its representation: the big losers under the new electoral rules were the provincial parties.

The PJ won in all but six of the provinces, which included all but one of the most-populous districts (the exception being the autonomous district of Buenos Aires city).

Virtually everywhere, though, the number of blank and spoilt ballots was greater than that of the votes attracted by the winning party. The percentages ranged from a quarter to a third of the electorate.

This cannot be compared with situations in the world more established democracies where the apathetic, indifferent or disenchanted simply don't bother to vote. It was active dissent.

Indeed, the same can be said of the rate of abstention, calculated at 28% Ïbecause voting in Argentina is mandatory.

Since the restoration of elected rule in 1983, blank votes have, on average, represented 3% of the total: eight to eleven times less than last Sunday. In that period the highest blank-vote share was 6%.

And it was not simply a question of leaving a blank piece of paper, or nothing, or defacing the ballot. Those engaging in the voto bronca stuffed their envelopes with pictures of past heroes, cartoon characters, even pictures of Osama bin Laden Ïand, in some vicious instances, white powder meant to suggest anthrax.

If there is any comfort for the Alianza, it is to be found in the fact that abstention and voto bronca was high everywhere, even in the PJ-ruled districts.

A final sign of disenchantment with the establishment was the support for the new Alternativa por una República de Iguales (ARI), which now, with an estimated 17 seats, is the third-largest bloc in the chamber of deputies.