La Libertad Avanza lawmakers have introduced a bill to narrow the scope of the election silence period in the City of Buenos Aires. The initiative would not abolish the restrictions but focus them on political advertising, campaigning and the integrity of the vote. General bans affecting private activities with no direct link to influencing voters would be removed.
File 2314-D-2026 was submitted by Nicolás Pakgojz with support from other libertarian legislators. It would replace Article 200 of the local Electoral Code. Shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, cultural spaces and recreational businesses could operate normally during the silence period, provided they did not become sites of campaigning or party promotion.
The main political safeguards would remain. Public campaign events would still be barred from 48 hours before voting begins until polls close. Party premises could not open within 80 metres of polling schools, false ballots could not be distributed, and voters could not display campaign insignia during the periods set by law.
Specific election-day controls would also be preserved. Parties and candidates would remain barred from distributing free alcohol, while gatherings of voters and the storage of weapons would still be forbidden within 80 metres of polling places. The Electoral Court would retain the power to order the immediate suspension of activities that violated those provisions.
The proposal adds a rule for simultaneous elections. When a city vote is held on the same day as a national election, federal law and the existing simultaneity regime would govern the restrictions. Its sponsors say this would prevent overlapping rules and argue that the current code confuses protection of the vote with broad limits on economic and social life.
The debate now moves to the Legislature's committees. La Libertad Avanza argues that the current bans impose costs on commerce, gastronomy, culture and tourism without improving electoral transparency. The bloc must secure a committee report and then a majority on the floor; until that happens, the existing city silence rules remain in force.
