Uruguay Teacher Unions Win Both Elected Seats on National Public Schools Board
EDUCATION · URUGUAY
Key Facts
- —The country Uruguay runs its public schools through ANEP, the National Public Education Administration. Two of the five seats on its governing council, the Codicen, are elected directly by teachers.
- —What happened In the vote on Saturday 3 October 2026, union-backed lists won both seats. The tally was 27,768 votes to 7,109 (Electoral Court primary count, 4 October).
- —The numbers 45,660 of 50,782 eligible teachers voted, about 90 percent. Blank ballots fell to 6,163 from 10,570 in 2021; annulled ballots rose to 4,613 from 2,039 (Electoral Court, 4 October).
- —What it means for you Uruguay teacher unions keep a formal voice on the body that sets public school policy for the next five years. The three government appointees still hold the majority.
- —Still open The figures are from the primary count, not a final proclamation. The new councillors take their seats in February, La Diaria reported; the reason for the jump in annulled ballots is unconfirmed.
Uruguay teacher unions won both elected seats on the board that runs the country’s public schools on Saturday 3 October. Their lists took 27,768 votes against 7,109 for the only rival banner, according to the Electoral Court’s primary count.
Pablo Macedo and Limber Santos will sit for teachers on the Codicen, the governing council of ANEP, the National Public Education Administration. They replace Julián Mazzoni and Daysi Iglesias, who also ran with union backing.
How the vote broke down
Five lists ran under two banners, known in Uruguay as lemas. The union banner, “In Defence of Public Education”, grouped the lists of the CSEU, the education federation of the PIT-CNT, Uruguay’s national union confederation.
List 11, headed by Macedo and promoted by the secondary teachers’ union Fenapes, came first with 11,792 votes. List 22, led by Santos, a primary school teacher, took 8,438.
List 30, headed by Marcos Correa and Andrea Touzet, added 6,745, so the union lists filled the top three places. Under the rival banner, list 3 won 3,743 votes and list 1 won 3,159.
Turnout was about 90 percent: 45,660 of 50,782 eligible teachers voted across 171 polling circuits. The Electoral Court also counted 6,163 blank and 4,613 annulled ballots.
What each side campaigned on
Union candidates promised more support for classroom teachers and backed UNED, a planned national university of education, La Diaria reported. Santos also pledged more channels to make teachers’ daily work visible.
The rival banner, “Teaching Commitment, Educational Future”, opposed the UNED project. List 1, headed by Víctor Pizzichillo, a former president of the teacher training council, criticised what it called “legal uncertainty” inside ANEP.
That list named five priorities, including better learning results, higher status for teachers and decentralisation, Diario La R reported. List 3, from the Alternativa Docente group, focused on teachers’ mental health and inclusive education.
Why the two seats matter
The Codicen has five members. Three are appointed by the executive with Senate approval, and two are elected by teachers.
The elected pair cannot outvote the government appointees on their own. They do give organised teachers a formal place where national school policy is set, for a five-year term.
ANEP president Pablo Caggiani congratulated Macedo and Santos and called the vote a “very important” space for participation. He stressed that it was a secret ballot organised by the Electoral Court.
The result adds to a busy season for organised labour in Uruguay. In parliament, a Colorado Party bill seeks seven working days’ notice for strikes.
A wider margin, and more spoiled ballots
The union lead has widened since 2021, when its lists won almost 25,000 votes against about 8,600, La Diaria reported. Blank ballots also fell, from 10,570 five years ago to 6,163.
Annulled ballots, however, more than doubled from 2,039. El Observador linked part of the rise to a campaign among teachers urging colleagues to put their own slip in the envelope.
Blank and annulled ballots together made up nearly a quarter of the votes cast. That points to a sizeable minority of teachers who backed neither banner.
What Is Not Yet Known
The results reported on Sunday come from the Electoral Court’s primary count, not a final proclamation. Macedo and Santos take their seats in February, La Diaria reported, and candidates framed their programmes for 2027 to 2032.
There is no breakdown of how many of the 4,613 annulled ballots came from the campaign El Observador described. How the new pair will work with the three government appointees on UNED remains to be seen.
Sources: Electoral Court (Corte Electoral) primary count, as reported on 4 October 2026 by El Observador, La Diaria, Montevideo Portal, El País and Uypress; campaign positions from La Diaria (union candidates, List 1, List 3) and Diario La R.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief