Chile: Voting centers open for plebiscite on the new Constitution

The Approval of the proposal would lose with a disadvantage that goes from 7 to 16 points.

The Approval of the proposal would lose with a disadvantage ranging from 7 to 16 points.

More than 15 million Chileans are called to the polls. What’s coming to the country?

Nearly 3,000 voting centers have opened this Sunday in Chili to start one of voting most important in its recent history, in which more than 15.1 million Chileans will deciden whether they approve or reject the proposed new Constitution.

(You may be interested in: Chile: what happens if the draft Constitution is approved or rejected?)

If approved, the text will replace the current Magna Cartainherited from the dictatorship (1973-1990) and seen by a part of society as the origin of the country’s inequalities by promoting the privatization of basic services, such as education, health or pensions.

(See also: New Constitution, litmus test for Boric and the stability of Chile)

If rejected, the current Fundamental Law will remain in force, although the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, has already announced that it will convene a new constituent process and that the mandate of the October 2020 plebiscite will be fulfilled, in which almost 80% of Chileans called for a constitutional change.

In Chile, we resolve our differences with more democracy, not with less

The polls will be open until 6 pm local time (5 pm Colombia time) and the result, which is expected to be very close, will be known a couple of hours later.

At the stroke of midnight, the president said in a message on Twitter that “Sunday will be a great day” and was “deeply proud” that society had “arrived here.”

“In Chile, we resolve our differences with more democracy, not less,” he added.