Elections of constituent candidates in Chile 2023, live | Boric: "This time there is no margin for error"

A man prepares one of the delegations where the vote will take place, this Saturday in Santiago. Esteban Felix (AP)

Chile takes a new step this Sunday to try to leave behind the Constitution of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

More than 15 million voters are compulsorily summoned to the polls to elect the 50 members of the constitutional council, whose task will be to draft a new fundamental law proposal.

The result will be submitted to a plebiscite in December, after last September a large majority rejected the first attempt to change the architecture of the State.

This is a crucial vote for two reasons.

In the first place, the members of the convention must determine the bases of the future of Chile, from the structure of the political parties to the scope of social rights.

Second, the elections will draw a map of the country's political climate.

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Follow the last hour of election day

Antonia Laborde

Bachelet: "It is a new opportunity that we cannot miss"

Former President Michelle Bachelet has regretted the little information that has circulated about the new constituent process, a responsibility that she attributed to political parties and the Electoral Service.

This new process "is a new opportunity that we cannot miss", she said this morning.

The two-time president had shown herself willing to be a candidate for constituent councilor

if the left came on a single list.

However, the PPD, a party that is part of the Government, decided to stand out and go with the center-left groups.

“The parties gave me their reasons for going on separate lists.

Unity is always the best, but if it wasn't, it wasn't." 

The council of experts, which has been working on the draft base on which the constitutional proposal will be drawn up, has not cited Bachelet.

The socialist hopes to meet with those who are elected today.  

ACT.7 MAY 2023 - 15:42

Sebastián Edwards: "Big global businesses follow the lithium issue more than the new Constitution"

The economist Sebastián Edwards carries out a political and economic analysis of this Sunday's election in Chile in this interview conducted by the journalist from EL PAÍS in Chile, Antonieta de la Fuente.

ACT.7 MAY 2023 - 15:41

Antonia Laborde

Piñera: "Chile cannot resist another constitutional failure"

President Sebastián Piñera has highlighted the importance of having a new Constitution in Chile.

"We have been fighting among ourselves for the Constitution for 40 years," he said after exercising his right to vote.

The former president added that the country "does not need, deserve, or resist another failure in constitutional matters," like the one experienced last September, when 62% of citizens rejected the proposal prepared by the first council. 

The idea of ​​drafting a constitutional proposal to bury the legacy of the dictatorship was the formula that the political parties found to channel the social discontent that erupted in October 2019, during Piñera's second term.

Two former ministers of his Administration are candidates in this election.

ACT.7 MAY 2023 - 15:56

What to expect from the elections of candidates for constitutional councilors in Chile?

Chile will elect the 50 members of the constitutional council that, starting June 7, will work on a new Constitution proposal.

Political forces measure their power in an election, for the first time, with automatic registration and compulsory voting.

How to read the results of this crucial electoral event in Chile?

Cristóbal Huneeus, director of the DecideChile platform and the data analysis company Unholster, explains it in this text that we are publishing today.

ACT.7 MAY 2023 - 15:05

Antonia Laborde

Boric: The Government will not "interfere" in the process

President Gabriel Boric has remarked that "whatever the result" tonight's result, "the elections of the new constitutional councilors constitute an advance for the country".

The president has recognized that the constitutional process "has not been easy" and that his wishes are for the country to achieve a Constitution "that unites and identifies all Chilean men and women."

Boric has clarified that

and will respect their autonomy, but they will be guarantors of what they require to carry out their work.

He has also maintained that the political will when discussing the future proposal should not think about the next election, but about the next generation.

Unlike the first attempt, the Boric Administration has marked a strong distance.

The failure of the plebiscited proposal last September was a hard blow to the left-wing government, which had actively called for approval of the text.

ACT.7 MAY 2023 - 15:34

Antonia Laborde

Boric: "This time there is no margin for error"

President Gabriel Boric has highlighted the importance of what is at stake in this second constituent process, after the failure of the first attempt.

"We have the historic opportunity to reconcile after the fractures we have suffered," said the president.

"This time there is no margin for error," he added. 

This second attempt has been marked by the apathy of the Chileans.

Asked about this point, Boric has recognized that "the hope that characterized the first process seems to have vanished. Today I invite you to recover hope", he assured.

ACT.7 MAY 2023 - 14:51

Antonia Laborde

The Boric go to vote

Good morning from Chile!

First thing in the morning (8:22 a.m. local time), President Gabriel Boric, accompanied by his partner, Irina Karamanos, and their relatives, has already gone out to vote.

The president is in his hometown, Punta Arenas, some 3,000 kilometers south of Santiago, where he has his electoral address.  

It is early, but there are already lines in some places, such as where the president votes, who has taken the time to greet those waiting their turn to vote one by one.

"I have confidence in the wisdom of the Chilean people," he told reporters before exercising his right to vote.

ACT.7 MAY 2023 - 14:37

A second attempt to bury Pinochet's Constitution

The 2,932 voting centers will be open throughout the country from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time and voting is compulsory for 15.1 million voters.

They will have to choose from five lists the 50 people who, starting in June, will draft the new constitutional project, which will be submitted to a plebiscite in December.

This is the second attempt to write a new fundamental law to replace that of the dictator Pinochet after the one carried out between 2019 and 2022, which gave birth to a text rejected by 62% last September.

On this occasion, the constituent process has very defined limits by the political class, unlike the previous one.

In Chile, the vote count is usually fast, but the new rule designed for the constituents to be 25 women and 25 men could delay it.

We explain it in this information: How to calculate parity?

One of the great challenges of this vote that you can read more about at this link.

ACT.7 MAY 2023 - 14:20

Chile opens the polls to elect a new constituent council

Good morning!

Chile is preparing, once again, to elect those in charge of drafting a proposed Constitution.

The polls open at 8 in the morning awaiting the vote of 15 million Chileans called to elect the 50 members of the constitutional council. 

The EL PAÍS delegation in Chile will follow the development of the vote live from this broadcast.

You can consult all the details about today's election by following this link and the latest information about the country in this other one.

Thanks for joining us.

ACT.7 MAY 2023 - 13:55

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