Preliminary election results released by Chile’s Electoral Service (Servel) on Sunday showed that ruling leftist candidate Jeanette Jara and conservative Republican Party candidate José Antonio Cast will advance to the runoff on December 14 as neither received more than 50 percent of the vote.
According to Servel, after 77.79 percent of the ballots had been counted in the first round of elections on Sunday, J. Jara was leading with 26.69 percent of the votes, while J. A. Kast had garnered 24.15 percent.
Under Chilean law, candidates advance to a second round of elections if none of them receives more than half of the votes in the first round.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric congratulated J. Jara and J. A. Casta in a televised address.
“On December 14, Chile will once again elect a president of our country, who will decide the fate of our homeland for the next four years,” said G. Boric.
“I am confident that dialogue, respect and love for Chile will be more important than any disagreements,” he added.
