Elections in Chile: Kast could beat Boric in the second round, according to polls

Chile’s conservative candidate José Antonio Kast could beat Gabriel Boric in the second presidential round, according to two polls that showed the main contender on the right closer than ever to winning the nation’s highest post.

In an eventual second round, Kast would get 53.7% of valid votes to 46.3% for Boric, according to an Atlas Intelligence poll released Wednesday. For its part, the Studio Publico survey published the same day showed that Kast had a 53.2% preference over Boric’s 46.8%.

The right-wing lawyer and former MP is gaining the upper hand less than three weeks before the vote. Kast promotes a platform that emphasizes lower taxes and law and order. Until now, polls showed him losing to the former student leader in a runoff.

The Chilean peso reduced losses in afternoon trading and was down 0.1% to 813.29 per dollar. Meanwhile, the S&P IPSA closed up 2.4%.

Despite recent events, the electoral race remains open.

According to Atlas Intelligence, in a second round, Kast would lose to center-left senator Yasna Provoste, while Boric would defeat both former Minister Sebastián Sichel and Provoste.

For the first round, Kast would surpass Boric 31% to 21.4% followed by Provoste with 12.2%, according to the Atlas Intelligence survey. While Studio Publico showed Kast with 37.9%, Boric with 27.6% and Provoste with 11.4%.

Kast’s advance in the polls has coincided with the missteps of Sichel, the closest candidate to the unpopular Sebastián Piñera Administration. For example, Sichel criticized the proposal for more early pension withdrawals before revealing that he himself had withdrawn money in an earlier round.

Atlas Intelligence surveyed 2,266 people online on November 1-2 and has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

Studio Publico surveyed 1,493 people via email from October 26-31 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.54 percentage points.

The first round of the presidential elections is scheduled for November 21. In case no one gets more than 50% of the vote, the second round is scheduled for December 19.