The first preliminary data will be visible from 7:00 p.m. (local time) with the expectation that the result will be narrow.
The vote count of the crucial ballot in Chile started this Sunday after the closing of the more than 2,500 voting centers and in the midst of a barrage of criticism against the Government for not having enabled a more efficient public transport service.
The first preliminary data They will be expected from 19:00 local time (22:00 GMT) and the result is expected to be very tight.
The latest polls gave the winner, by a very narrow margin, the young left-wing deputy Gabriel Boric versus the far-right José Antonio Kast, but experts indicate that results will depend largely on participation, which in the first round of November 21 barely reached 50%.
In the vote abroad, which is not representative, sand imposed the former student leader in most countries, with the exception of China, where Kast swept.
They are the candidates with the most opposite proposals in the history of Chilean democracy: Boric defends a welfare state with feminist and environmentalist accent and raises fears in the markets for his alliance with the Communist Party, while Kast is a fervent Catholic who seeks to maintain the current neoliberal model, lower taxes and tackle irregular migration with a heavy hand.
I have gone out to vote to defend our rights and improve our lives. Today things can start to be different.
Student Diana González, to EFE.
The taxi driver Roberto Paulsen, for his part, recognized Efe in the capital’s La Reina neighborhood that he paid for “by covering his nose with his fingers” because does not like any candidate and “Chile is a country of the center and not of extremes”.
Accusations of a “government boycott”
The elections, the most momentous since the return to democracy in 1990, were marked by infinite complaints from citizens who waited for hours for the arrival of public buses to reach the voting centers.
The situation was especially critical at noon and in the peripheral areas of the capital, where the mayors took municipal vehicles to transport residents.
Chile in expectation: This Sunday will be one of the most momentous elections in the country
Both candidates criticized the situation, although from Boric’s command they went further and accused the government of the conservative Sebastián Piñera of “boycotting” the elections.
“Given the Government’s operation to limit public transportation in favor of your candidate, we call to organize taxis, collectives and shared cars to transfer voters, “said the leftist’s campaign manager, Izkia Siches.
In Chile, the second presidential round will be between opposite poles: Gabriel Boric vs. Jose Antonio Kast
The Government recognized that there were “episodes of congestion“Which affected the” fluidity of public transport routes “, but ruled out any kind of intentionality.
“We deny those who are trying to install a falsity of the bearing of a cathedral by saying that something has not been done so that people can go to vote. We have 75% more buses than a normal Sunday, ”added the government spokesman, Jaime Bellolio.
Among the main challenges of the future It will be to channel the social crisis that continues to exist since the protests of 2019, lead the implementation of the norms of the new Constitution and face the economic challenges left by the pandemic. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
