Voting closes in what looks to be close race for Chile presidency
Santiago, (MILLAT ONLINE):Polling stations across Chile closed at 6:00pm (2100 GMT) Sunday in a runoff election held to choose the nation’s next president.
Analysts were expecting a tight race between Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire former president seeking a comeback, and rival Alejandro Guillier, a former popular TV presenter turned senator who was riding a leftist surge.
The South American country’s 14 million voters had been called to cast ballots at more than 43,000 polling stations.
Official results were expected within a couple of hours after the polls closed.
Pinera, a wealthy conservative businessmen who was president between 2010 and 2014, was looking to succeed outgoing center-left President Michelle Bachelet, who steps down in March next year and cannot run for re-election.
He had been seen as the easy favorite — until the first round held on November 19 revealed surprisingly strong support for the left.
That support could rally behind Guillier, an independent backed by Bachelet.
In the first round, Pinera garnered a lower-than-expected 37 percent of the vote to Guillier’s 22 percent.
Guillier could pick up much of the 20 percent that went to anti-austerity radical-left candidate, Beatriz Sanchez, who was knocked out of the race in the first round.
Analysts said a high turnout would likely benefit Guillier.