Chile will hold a general election on Sunday to choose the country’s new president and members of parliament, featuring eight candidates vying to succeed outgoing leftist President Gabriel Boric next year.
Communist former minister Jeanette Jara, conservative lawyer José Antonio Kast, conservative politician Evelyn Matthei, and libertarian Congressman Johannes Kaiser are presently leading the eight-man race. The Chilean constitution bars current President Boric, whose term ends in March 2026, from seeking immediate reelection, forcing him to wait for one full presidential term before being eligible to run again.
Voting in the upcoming general elections is compulsory for all Chilean men and women over the age of 18, under penalty of a $36 to $108 non-participation fine. The fine does not apply to citizens under specific conditions such as sickness, disabilities, being out of the country on the day of the election, or if they are over 124 miles away from their voting station.
Chile’s Servel electoral service informed that roughly 15.79 million Chileans are eligible to vote in the upcoming Sunday election which, in addition to including the first round of the presidential election, will see voters select all 115 members of the Chilean Congress’ Chamber of Deputies and 23 of the 50 seats at the Senate. Voters will choose among 125 Senate candidates and over 1,000 Congressional aspirants.
The presidential election notably stands as the first one since the compulsory clause was introduced in 2022. The Chilean left rallied around Communist former minister Jara, while the nation’s right wing failed to reach a consensus on a unified candidate, resulting in three different candidates competing on Sunday.
Should no presidential candidate obtain an absolute majority of the valid votes cast on Sunday, a runoff election between the two most voted candidates will take place on Sunday, December 14. Voting in the prospective runoff is also compulsory for the Chilean electorate under penalty of the same fine.
Although Chile bans the publication of electoral polls during the last 15 days leading to the election, the Spanish newspaper ABC, citing data from a survey conducted by Chilean polling firm La Cosa Nostra, reported on Thursday night that communist candidate Jara is projected to obtain 33.6 percent of the votes and both Kast and Kaiser appear tied in second place with 20 percent, versus Mathei’s 16.2 percent. The survey was reportedly taken between November 3 and 11.
Jeannette Jara
Jara, 51, is a communist politician who served as labor minister until this year and is the candidate of Unity for Chile, the far-left coalition led by current President Boric. In recent days, Jara has reportedly distanced herself from Boric, saying during a presidential debate that Boric’s actions “are not my style; they do not represent me,” in response to Boric’s refusal to stand up to salute President Javier Milei during the inauguration of Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz.
Her 20-point campaign promise program includes calls to raise the minimum wage, pension reforms, and the “right to free, safe, and legal abortion.” Other promises include revamping the Chilean police and prison systems and “cutting gun access to delinquents.” On the United States and President Donald Trump, Jara said this week that she would have a “pragmatic” relationship with the Trump administration, asserting that although she can think “very differently” than Trump “he was elected by the American people” and she respects that decision.
Jara was elected as the Chilean left’s candidate in a late June primary that only saw the participation of leftist parties and coalitions as a result of the Chilean right failing to reach a consensus for the primary process.
José Antonio Kast
Kast is a 59-year-old former lawmaker who is running for president for a third time after previously running in 2021 and 2017. Kast won the first round of the 2021 election but ultimately lost to Boric in the runoff. Kast is running as the candidate of the conservative Change for Chile coalition.
If elected, Kast vowed to implement a “three-axis” program featuring 33 campaign promises including cracking down on illegal migration and enacting mass deportations of illegal aliens, restoring law and order, strengthening the fight against crime and drug traffickers, and building new maximum security prisons.
On the economy, Kast vowed to eliminate unnecessary regulations, lower taxes for businesses, and cut public spending waste. The candidate also vowed to reaffirm the role of families in their children’s education, allowing parents to choose the way in which they want their children to learn. Kast also vowed to tackle the problem of Chile’s healthcare access by having both the public and private sector collaborating to reduce waiting lists.
Johannes Kaiser
Kaiser, 49, is a lawmaker and founder of the National Libertarian Party, formed by dissidents of Kast’s Republican Party. The lawmaker is described by international outlets as an “outsider.”
In his 200-page campaign program, Kaiser prefaced that Chile faces a grave “political, social, spiritual, and economical” crisis caused by the “Marxism of the 21st Century” and the “Global State,” promising to dismantle gender ideology and protect traditional family values.
Kaiser vowed to reactivate Chile’s compulsory military service and implement stricter immigration controls, including a possible agreement with El Salvador to deport illegal migrants linked to organized crime. Kaiser also pledged to reduce the size of the government, slash taxes and public spending, and end “asphyxiating bureaucracy.” The Libertarian candidate asserted that, if elected, he would have Chile withdraw from the Paris climate Agreement.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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