SANTIAGO, June 29 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — More than 2,000 polling stations are set up on Saturday in Chile for Sunday’s primaries, where the candidates of the leftist, progressive, and social democratic parties will be chosen for the November presidential elections.
Pamela Figueroa, president of the Electoral Service (SERVEL), informed that about 2,074 polling stations are set up nationwide for voting, which is voluntary.
Although the electoral roll is 15,499,000 people, turnout is expected to be between 1.5 million and 2 million, based on the performance recorded in previous primary elections.
To ensure the elections’ security, about 7,600 armed forces and law enforcement personnel have already been deployed to the polling stations, Army Chief of Staff Colonel Pablo Verdejo stated.
Chileans will elect this Sunday, June 29, the representative of the Unidad por Chile (Unity for Chile) party alliance, made up of eight ruling party groups, which will pit the right and far right against each other in the November 16 presidential election.
Jeannette Jara, the candidate of the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh) supported by the Humanist Action party and the Christian Left party; Carolina Toha, belonging to the Partido por la Democracia (Party for Democracy) and backed by the Socialists, the Liberals, the Radicals, and the Christian Democrats; as well as Gonzalo Winter, of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front); and Jaime Mulet, of the Federacion Regionalista Verde Social (Green Social Regionalist Federation), are running for the candidacy.
The latest Citizen Panel survey reported that Jara is the favorite with 40 percent of vote intentions, followed by Toha with 34 percent. Further behind are Gonzalo Winter with 30 percent and Jaime Mulet with five points. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
