Chileans cast ballots on Sunday in a highly divisive presidential and congressional election, with over 15 million registered voters deciding between maintaining a center-left path or shifting sharply rightward, influenced heavily by concerns over rising crime and immigration.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. and closed at 6 p.m., marking the first election with mandatory voting for all registered citizens, a change from previous voluntary participation that saw high abstention rates.
None of the eight presidential candidates are expected to secure a majority, setting the stage for a December 14 runoff.
The frontrunners are Jeannette Jara, 51, a Communist Party member and former labor minister from the governing leftist coalition, and José Antonio Kast, 59, a conservative Republican Party candidate known for ultraconservative views.
Both candidates have prioritized combating gang violence linked to immigrants, particularly from Venezuela, with Jara promising new prisons and expulsions for convicted drug traffickers, while Kast vows to build border walls, fences, and trenches, and deport undocumented individuals.
Kast issued an ultimatum to 337,000 undocumented immigrants to self-deport or face forced removal.
Crime rates have risen sharply over the past decade, though homicides fell 10 percent since 2022 under President Gabriel Boric, who is barred from reelection.
Voters blame foreign gangs like Tren de Aragua for increases in murders, kidnappings, extortion, and sex trafficking.
The election renews the entire 155-member Chamber of Deputies and 23 Senate seats, with the leftist coalition currently holding minorities in both.
A right-wing sweep could mark the first time since 1990 that Congress and the presidency align under conservative control.
Mandatory voting introduces millions of new participants, including automatic registrants, adding unpredictability.
Over 800,000 resident immigrants are eligible but exempt from the mandate, with polls showing strong support for right-wing options among them, especially Venezuelans.
Chile's foreign population has doubled since 2017 to 1.6 million, including an estimated 330,000 undocumented.