Chile has second round on Sunday: poll indicates tight election
Chile's presidential election race is picking up ahead of Sunday's polarized runoff. Ultra-conservative José Antonio Kast closes the gap with former leftist student leader Gabriel Boric as the two vie for essential votes from moderate voters.
A private poll by consultancy Cadem, seen by Reuters, showed Kast with 36% of voting intentions, just three points behind Boric – half the difference seen at the end of last month, shortly after the first round of 21 November.
That would translate into a 52% to 48% victory for Boric after the invalid votes were eliminated, with the same poll showing a 54% to 46% victory on 26 November. The survey of 1,000 people, carried out between December 9 and 10, had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, Cadem said.
The smaller gap sets the stage for a disputed run-off, the first presidential vote since Chile was rocked by widespread protests against inequality that yielded months of marches and episodes of street violence two years ago.
"It's a very uncertain election in a very abnormal year. It's been two very abnormal years and, from the social turmoil onwards, nothing is predictable," said Kenneth Bunker, director of consultancy Tresquintos.
The vote divides Chileans between a revitalized progressive left, which has grown sharply since the 2019 protests, and a far-right countermovement that endorses Kast's harsh message of law and order.
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
