Plebiscite in Chile: long lines to vote and high expectations across the country

The sun is already scratching the head. At 11 in the morning it is very clear why the electoral authorities have placed so much emphasis on the fact that no one forgets to bring fresh water, as well as masks and pencils to go and vote. This Sunday, which for many is historic in Chile, appeared cold in Santiago, but soon changed to a spring day.

The visit to the polls has turned into a peaceful family outing for thousands of people. The tense climate of the last stretch of the countryside seems to have left behind. At least until the results are known.

The national stadium, in the municipality of Ñuñoa, this Sunday was one of the most massive polling stations. “Site of memory”, recalls a sign near the entrance.

Nobody here forgets that this space was one of the main centers of detention and torture during the beginning of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. And this Sunday is a symbol of democracy, where the Chileanss vote if they want to keep the 1980 Magna Carta, legacy of those dark years, or if they accept the new text, which proposes profound changes.

Uncertainty hangs in the air of the capital. Although this draft, of 388 articles, was the result of a process that began in an outbreak of anger in 2019 and sought to address the demands for greater equality and social rights that united the country then, the truth is that today Chile is divided.

The text, drawn up within a year by a convention composed mostly of progressive sectors, with little weight from traditional parties and with equality between men and women, declares Chile a “state of social law” and is considered at the vanguard in relation to the gender equality and environmental protection.

But it has a number of articles that generate resistance or open rejection, such as the one the country declares multinational and recognizes the 11 indigenous populations – 13% of the 19 million inhabitants -, that is, the one that puts an end to the judiciary as it is known and proposes a model of justice that includes indigenous legal systems.

Many also did not like the proposal of the removal from the senate or the declaration of the universal right to housing, which many saw as a potential threat to private property.

Uncertainty

The polls in recent weeks predicted a victory for the “Refusal” option, although the supporters of the “Approve” – ​​promoted above all by President Gabriel Boric – have mobilized crowds especially in Santiago, and this Sunday the uncertainty and sentiment of eventually the result will be modifiedon one side or the other.

In any case, the president is clear that, even if the text is approved, you will have to work to modify the points that make noise. And if it is rejected, it will likely move on to another constitutional process.

Because what has not been lost is the belief, among a large majority of Chileans, from all political sectors, that it is necessary to leave the 1980 text behind and write a new one.

The lines are long but they move fast. Dozens of gendarmes, carabinieri and employees of Servel, the electoral service, mingle with the voters, who arrived at the stadium on foot, by bicycle, by car or on the modern line 6 of the Santiago metro. With dogs, with bicycles, with strollers, with children of all ages, the voters seemed enthusiastic.

In countless schools, universities and other institutions converted into polling stations across the country, there was an atmosphere of enthusiasm and expectations.

Voter turnout seemed high in the early hours of the day, in the country’s first mandatory elections in a decade. That is why a large influx was expected, among the 15 million eligible to vote.

“National unity”

Boric voted a few minutes before 8:30 in Punta Arenas, his hometown, in the far south of the country, facing the Strait of Magellan. From there he assured that, beyond the option imposed at the polls, he will call “national unity” in an exercise of “more democracy” to overcome social fractures.

“I can guarantee that our will and action, regardless of the outcome, will be to convene a broad national unity of all sectors, social organizations, civil society, political parties,” promised the president.

At 6 pm, Chilean time (7 in Argentina), the polls close here. The first results are expected a couple of hours later. But far from being an end, it will only be the beginning of a process that will be neither short nor easy.

Santiago, special correspondent