Polling stations open in historic constituent elections in Chile

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The 2,731 polling stations opened their doors this Saturday to begin the most important elections in Chile’s recent history, to elect the members of the convention that will draft a new constitution to replace the current one, in force since the military dictatorship.

The convention, made up of 155 citizens, will have 17 seats reserved for indigenous peoples and will have gender parity, something unprecedented in the world that will turn Chile, in a few months, into the first country to have a Magna Carta written in equal parts by men and women.

It will also be the first time in its 200 years of independence that Chile will have a Fundamental Law drafted by an elected citizens’ convention. The three texts it has had so far (1833, 1925, and 1980) were written by constituents not elected by popular vote.

The elections, which were postponed from April due to the pandemic, are being held in two days to avoid crowds and at a time when the pandemic is subsiding in most of the country and the vaccination process is progressing, with almost 50% of the target population (15 million) vaccinated with two doses.

“Go to vote, and you will have all the assurances not to get infected. We have vaccinated more than 9 million people with at least one dose (…) This is an unprecedented process in Chile”, said the Minister of Health, Enrique Paris.

Polling centers will be open both Saturday and Sunday until 6 PM local time – with special hours for senior citizens – and the ballot boxes will be sealed and guarded by more than 23,000 members of the Armed Forces on Saturday night.

The repeal of the current Constitution, the focus of criticism for its dictatorial origin and neoliberal bias, was decided in a historic plebiscite last October and was one of the main demands of the 2019 protests, the most serious since the military regime, with some thirty dead and thousands injured.

The right-wing parties that form the ruling coalition are going to the elections united with a single list of candidates, which could benefit them due to the voting system. At the same time, the left-wing opposition disagreed and registered several lists.

According to experts, there is also a strong presence of independent candidates, such as lawyers, pensioners, trade unionists, feminists, or academics, proof of the general disaffection towards politicians.

In parallel to the election of constituents, more than 14.9 million voters are eligible to elect 354 mayors, 2,252 councilors, 16 regional governors, a position previously appointed by the Executive branch, thus contributing to decentralizing the country.

Chile was one of the two countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), that did not elect its regional authorities, as most countries do.