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More than 15 million people were called to the polls this Sunday to vote in the second round of the presidential elections in Chile. The far-right José Antonio Kast and the left-wing leader Gabriel Boric are competing for the replacement of the head of state, Sebastián Piñera.
The new president of Chile should be “the president of all,” said this Sunday, December 19, the outgoing president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, shortly after the polls opened throughout the country.
“Tonight we are going to have a new president elected by all of you and I believe that whoever is elected should never forget that he must be the president of all Chileans, not just of those who supported him,” said Piñera after casting his vote.
Two antagonistic candidates face off in these polarized elections: the ultra-conservative José Antonio Kast and the former left-wing student leader Gabriel Boric.
After voting this Sunday in the south of the city of Santiago, Kast assured that if he had a very narrow result, with a difference between the two candidates of less than 50 thousand votes, the presidential elections could be “resolved in the electoral courts.” .
“It is a narrow election, we have to wait for the result. One result is the one issued by the Servel (Electoral Service), but if that result is very narrow, clearly the proxies at the polling station have a role and this could be resolved in electoral tribunals ”, indicated the leader of the Republican Party.
It has been 118 days of great excitement and enthusiasm. Today will be a historic day and the call is that all Chileans go to vote! 🇨🇱 pic.twitter.com/s9ptdUxtkn
– José Antonio Kast Rist 🇨🇱 (@joseantoniokast) December 19, 2021
In case of winning at the polls, Boric assured that he hopes to be “the president of all Chileans.” “The sense of historical responsibility is tremendous, I know that history does not start with us and that we are standing on the shoulders of giants. I hope I can be everyone’s president, “said the leftist leader after casting his vote.
On the other hand, other voices have made themselves heard on this crucial day for the future of Chile. The former Chilean president, Michel Bachelet, said that “hope has to win over fear” after voting for the left-wing deputy, for whom he publicly showed his support.
The current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also asked the winner of the ballot to be “president of all” and “seek dialogue with all sectors to continue building a country in which we can all feel part of it.”
For her part, Senator-elect Fabiola Campillai, a recognized victim of police repression in Chile, also spoke out, assuring that her vote “is for all the mutilated” that resulted from the wave of protests in 2019, in which she lost sight, smell and taste from the impact of a tear gas canister.
“My vote is for everyone who is gone, for all the mutilated, the tortured, for the freedom of our prisoners,” Campillai said.
Excited to exercise the right to vote in my dear Magellan. From here I invite you to participate in this process as well. Today Chile needs you, so that hope wins over fear! pic.twitter.com/FGI9z5nL63
– Gabriel Boric Font (@gabrielboric) December 19, 2021
Traffic jams and lack of buses hinder voter mobilization
Election day does not come without mobility problems, as has been reported in various local media.
Vehicular traffic and overflowing public buses marked the first hours of this Sunday. Many people who must travel far to vote have had to wait up to two hours to get on a bus.
“It’s the last straw that older people have to wait so long in the sun, in this heat,” said Mariana Vargas, a resident of Santiago, quoted by the EFE news agency.
For several hours, the hashtag #SueltenLasMicros was the most shared on social networks in Chile, as a collective request to the Government to bring more vehicles into circulation.
#SueltenLasMicros In RM, only 51% of public transport capacity is operational on this key day. It is reported that there is almost no coverage Maipú, La Florida, Puente Alto, La Pintana, Lo Espejo. In regions the same
Minister GloriaHutt is lying! # ELecciones2021CL 🌳🌳🌳– Ana María Gazmuri (@AnaMariaGazmuri) December 19, 2021
A meeting that will end up being by telephone
On Saturday afternoon, December 18, the campaign coordinators of José Antonio Kast, Cristián Valenzuela, and Gabriel Boric, Giorgio Jackson, had their last contact.
According to the newspaper La Tercera, when the winner is announced on Sunday night, Kast and his team hope that Boric will visit them at their headquarters in the Las Condes neighborhood, in the Chilean capital. Valenzuela assured that, in case of losing, if the difference is less than 50 thousand votes, this could be resolved in electoral courts. But, if it becomes a higher number, they claim to go in person to visit Boric.
However, the leftist’s team has not hidden its discomfort and prefer that Kast not go to see Boric personally, “under the argument that the campaign has been polarized and that, according to Jackson, ‘it has been with lies ahead, and that makes it difficult to maintain traditions. ‘ They have even argued that they could not guarantee the security of the Republican, if he comes to go to the place, “said the Chilean newspaper.
With EFE, Reuters and local media
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