Spanish
Santiago de Chile.- Leftist Jeannette Jara and far-right José Antonio Kast will compete for the Presidency of Chile in a second round on December 14, with 40.3% of the votes counted.
According to the preliminary results of the Electoral Service, the former communist minister of Gabriel Boric obtains 26.4% of the votes, while the former ultra-Catholic deputy achieves 24.4%.
The result is much closer than the polls predicted before the election ban, which gave Jara a victory of over 30%.
The big surprise of the night is the right-wing populist Franco Parisi who, as in the 2021 presidential elections, is in third place, with 18.4% and a considerable advance in the mining regions of the north of the country.
The big losers of the day are the libertarian far-rightist Johannes Kaiser, whom many polls even placed above Kast, and the representative of the traditional right, Evelyn Matthei, who are practically tied in fourth place.
You can read: Polls close and vote counting begins in the Chilean presidential elections
Matthei is the only one who has already come out to acknowledge the results and, in a brief appearance, has said that she will congratulate Kast in person, although she is reluctant to publicly ask for his support. "Let's go to Kast's command to greet him properly," said Matthei, who has been involved in friction with Kast during the campaign. The more than 15.6 million people called to vote also elect the entire Chamber of Deputies (155) and 23 of the 25 senators, elections whose count will begin after the presidential count and in which polls predict a considerable advance of conservatism. The elections are held in a context of great electoral fatigue after the successive elections held since the massive protests of 2019 and due to discontent over Boric's management, whose approval hovers around 30% and who will leave La Moneda next March. Since 2006, power has alternated between left and right and no president has handed over the presidential sash to a successor of the same political affiliation.
