Overview
- Pre‑election polls placed Jeannette Jara around 28–29% with José Antonio Kast in the low‑to‑mid 20s, leaving all candidates short of a first‑round majority and pointing to a December 14 runoff.
- José Antonio Kast, Johannes Kaiser and Evelyn Matthei vie for the right’s spot, effectively turning the first round into a de facto primary for their sector.
- Voting is compulsory for about 15.7 million eligible citizens, with five to six million infrequent voters newly obliged to participate under a 2022 law.
- Voters are also choosing the entire 155‑member Chamber of Deputies and 23 of 50 senators, making the congressional balance crucial to the next president’s ability to govern.
- Security and irregular migration dominate the race, as debates over Augusto Pinochet’s legacy resurface with explicit defenses of the dictatorship from several right‑wing candidates.