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Chile’s Presidential Runoff Set: Leftist Jara to Face Far-Right Kast on Dec. 14

Mandatory voting returned a first round defined by security concerns, sending the race to a Dec. 14 runoff.

Overview

  • With nearly all ballots counted, Servel reported Jeannette Jara at about 26.8% and José Antonio Kast near 24%, below the 50% needed to win outright.
  • A right-leaning majority in first-round voting and swift endorsements from Johannes Kaiser and Evelyn Matthei have given Kast a reported edge heading into the second round.
  • Populist economist Franco Parisi finished third with roughly 19–20% and declined to endorse either finalist, leaving his voters up for grabs.
  • The campaign has centered on rising violent crime and a sharp increase in migration, in Chile’s first presidential election with mandatory voting and automatic registration for over 15.7 million people.
  • Kast proposes hard-line security measures including mass deportations and new border barriers, while Jara pledges to expand policing, tighten anti-money-laundering tools and ease cost-of-living pressures.