La Derecha Diario Lospennato and Lombardi can't vote for themselves because their residence is in PBA
Not having their residence in the City, they are not listed in the Buenos Aires electoral roll
In yet another display of the political opportunism that often dominates election campaigns, two of the main PRO candidates for the legislative elections in the City of Buenos Aires find themselves in a rather striking situation: they will not be able to vote for themselves because they do not have an address in the City, so they do not appear in the Buenos Aires electoral roll.
They are Silvia Lospennato and Hernán Lombardi, current national deputies for the Province of Buenos Aires, who now lead the lists for Buenos Aires legislators in the elections on May 18.
Both have been part of Buenos Aires lists in recent elections: Lombardi held the 11th position on the ticket headed by Diego Santilli in 2021, while Lospennato was fourth on the list of Cristian Ritondo in 2023.
Despite asking for the vote of Buenos Aires citizens, neither of them made the corresponding address change to formally integrate into the district they now aspire to represent. Therefore, they do not appear in the electoral roll of the City of Buenos Aires, a detail that highlights a common practice in Argentine politics: changing districts as convenient, without genuine territorial commitment.
The City of Buenos Aires defines in these elections the local legislative positions, responsible for discussing and enacting laws on district-exclusive issues, such as education, health, or security. That those who run for these positions do not reside there raises a necessary debate about representation and political legitimacy.
Lombardi and Lospennato are not the only prominent names on the list of candidates. The roster also includes Buenos Aires spokesperson Laura Alonso; the former City Security Minister, Waldo Wolff (displaced after various criticisms); as well as Darío Nieto, Victoria Morales Gorleri, Rocío Figueroa, Lautaro García Batallán, Lucía Braccia, Ezequiel Jarvis, Pilar Brown, and Sergio Iacovino.
What may seem like an electoral anecdote to many actually reveals a symptom of a politics that often seems driven not by a vocation for service, but by convenience.
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