More than 15.6 Chileans are expected to go to the polls this Sunday (16) to elect the next president, who will govern the country for four years. In the election, the population will also vote for deputies and senators.
Unlike the 2021 elections, when the big issue was the constituent process after the massive protests of 2019, this vote takes place with crime positioned as the main concern.
“In these elections, the candidates have a more reformist tone than a re-foundational one”, explains Chilean sociologist Eugenio Tironi to CNN.
According to him, the focus is on proposals that can be materialized mainly regarding security, economic growth and State reform.
Improving the country’s state functioning is also seen as one of the pending tasks for the next government, with a focus on reducing the structure and cutting spending, especially among right-wing candidates.
Who are the presidential candidates
Eight candidates are running for president of Chile and, according to the latest polls, a left-wing candidate leads voting intentions for the 1st round and three right-wing candidates appear next.
For the 1st round, whoever has the voters’ preference, according to the polls, is Jeannette Jara, from the Communist Party. She was Minister of Labor and Social Security under the current president of Chile, Gabriel Boric. Jara competes for the Unity for Chile coalition.
Under his administration, the country from 45 to 40 hours a week.
The center-left candidate is followed by former deputy José Antonio Kast, from the ultra-right Republican Party. Kast is trying to reach the presidency for the third time, and even went to the second round against Boric in 2021.
Kast moderated his speech in this campaign and ended up losing votes to Johannes Kaiser, candidate of the National Libertarian Party, who appears third in the polls. Even more far-right and a former ally of Kast, Kaiser gained notoriety in Chile with his YouTube channel.
In fourth place in voter preference comes Evelyn Matthei, a center-right option for voters, who competes for the Chile Vamos alliance.
Former mayor of Providência, who served as minister of Labor and Social Security under former president Sebastián Piñera, Matthei is from the UDI party (Independent Democratic Union), a traditional party on the Chilean right.
Polls indicate that Kast, Kaiser or Matthei would win in a second round against Jara. If one of them wins, Chile will maintain the alternation between left and right that has marked the country’s politics over the last 15 years.
What is Chile’s electoral system like?
This is the first presidential election with mandatory voting in Chile since 2012. Voting will take place from 8 am to 6 pm.
Voters vote on paper ballots, on which they indicate their preferred candidates with an x made with a blue pen. Afterwards, the ballot must be folded and closed with an electoral service sticker. The vote is cast by the voter in a ballot box.
Voters will receive a ballot for each vote: one for president, another for deputies and a third for senators in the regions that elect them.
To be elected in the first round, the presidential candidate must obtain more than 50% of the valid votes. If this does not happen, the two most voted candidates will compete in the second round on December 14th.
The results of this Sunday’s election are expected to be announced at 8pm.
Proposals against crime
after the homicide rate for every 100,000 inhabitants of the country almost tripled between 2015 and 2024, security is the main focus of the candidates’ proposals.
As the increase in crime occurred in parallel with a migratory wave of Venezuelans, and the entry of the Trem de Arágua gang, born in prisons in Nicolás Maduro’s country, the topic is often linked to immigration.
According to Tironi, all candidates had to address the issue during the campaign. “No one is exempt. Even the Communist Party candidate says that security will be her first priority and that she will be very tough on this issue. And everyone agrees that the issue of immigration is key”, he says.
Kast, for example, promises to expel undocumented immigrants and create a barrier with a three-meter-deep ditch and electric fences on the country’s northern border. He also wants to increase the capacity of security forces, including legal and political support to combat crime.
Kaiser proposes entering spaces occupied by criminal groups and ostensibly seeking them out, defending the population’s carrying of weapons and increasing penalties for all crimes. The libertarian also wants the creation of detention centers for irregular immigrants until they are expelled from the country.
Matthei also defends the heavy-handed policy against irregular immigration, and even defended the installation of dynamite at the border. She also proposes the creation of two “expulsion centers” for irregular immigrants.
In the last presidential debate, the UDI candidate also stated that she will have as Security Minister someone who works to put criminals “in prison or in the cemetery”.
Jara, on the other hand, has as one of his main proposals against insecurity the breaking of bank secrecy to determine the route of money from criminal organizations in the country. She also defends biometric control at borders, with the use of movement tracking cameras, but also promises the partial regularization of undocumented immigrants in the country.
Other proposals
According to Chilean economist Francisco Castañeda, “there is a feeling – which is not necessarily reality, since in Chile there is no uncontrolled spending – that the State is too large and that a reduction needs to be made to make it more efficient”.
As a result, the candidacies, mainly from the right, propose a strong reduction in the public sector.
The ultra-right Kast, for example, promises a fiscal adjustment of US$21 billion over four years, from a current budget of around US$90 billion.
The candidate, who promises to “return greatness to Chile”, has moderated his rhetoric in relation to the last presidential elections and now has a speech more focused on order, security and “greatness” of the country.
Kaiser also wants to reduce the number of ministries from 25 to nine, completely eliminate state funding for foundations and non-governmental organizations, with the exception of those that rely on regulations and audits, and cut 200,000 public positions. He also proposes reducing civil servant salaries.
With a disruptive speech regarding values, closely aligned with those of Argentine president Javier Milei, Kaiser proposes to remove the country from multilateral organizations, such as the World Health Organization and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. He is also opposed to environmental agreements and the UN 2030 Agenda.
Matthei, on the other hand, proposes strong control of state spending, with a reduction in ministries to up to 19. She, however, criticizes the radical spending cut proposed by Kast and Kaiser.
Left-wing candidate Jeanette Jara, who has stated that she will leave the Communist Party if she becomes president, does not focus on reducing spending, while promising to expand social reforms and maintain the welfare policies of the Boric government.
Inauguration of the next president
Chile’s next president takes office on March 11, 2026 for a four-year term.
