At 10 p.m. Swedish time, the polling stations in Chile’s presidential election closed.
If no candidate receives more than half of the votes, the two candidates with the most votes advance to a second round of elections.
And when more than half of the votes had been counted, it appeared to be the two favorite tipped candidates Jeanette Jara and José Kast, AP reports.
Two fringe candidates
There are two fringe candidates who will be pitted against each other in December.
Communist Party candidate Jeanette Jara belongs to the same left-wing bloc as incumbent President Gabriel Boric.
José Kast, who lost to Boric in the last election, is an admirer of dictator Augusto Pinochet and known for his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.
When 63 percent of the votes were counted, President Boric came out and congratulated both candidates for advancing to the second round.
Crime in focus
In the run-up to the election, the increased violent crime has been in focus – all eight presidential candidates have advocated “tough measures” in their campaigns.
According to an Ipsos poll from October, the majority of voters in Chile now believe that crime and violence are what worry them the most.
Chile has recently reintroduced compulsory voting for all eligible voters. This means that around 15 million Chileans must vote in the presidential election, if you don’t you risk a fine of up to the equivalent of SEK 1,000.
Between five and six million new voters are expected to vote in today’s election, which could make the election result more unpredictable.