2009–10 Chilean general election

General elections were held in Chile on Sunday 13 December 2009 to elect the president, all 120 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 18 of the 38 members of the Senate were up for election. As no presidential candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held between the top two candidates—Sebastián Piñera and Frei Ruiz-Tagle—on Sunday 17 January 2010. Piñera won the runoff with 52% of the vote and succeeded Michelle Bachelet on 11 March 2010.
In the Congressional elections, the centre-right Coalition for Change improved on the Alliance for Chile's result in 2005 by winning 58 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, while the governing center-left Concertación was reduced to 57 seats. Three communist MPs were elected, while incumbent Speaker of the Chamber, Rodrigo Álvarez was defeated by Marcela Sabat.

Background

Chilean politics is dominated by two main coalitions: the center-left Concert of Parties for Democracy, composed of the Christian Democrat Party, the Socialist Party, the Party for Democracy, and the Social Democrat Radical Party; and the center-right Alliance for Chile, composed of the Independent Democratic Union and National Renewal. The Concertación selected former president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle as their candidate, while the Alianza chose former presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera, who is supported by the newly created Coalition for Change electoral group. The far-left Juntos Podemos Más pact selected former Socialist Party member Jorge Arrate as its candidate. Another former Socialist party member, deputy Marco Enríquez-Ominami, ran as independent.

Presidential candidates

Coalition for Change candidate

Sebastián Piñera

Both Alliance for Chile parties —RN and UDI— chose Sebastián Piñera as their candidate for president, now under the banner of a larger electoral pact, the Coalition for Change, which also includes the newly formed party ChileFirst and other minor groups.

Party pre-candidates

Party	Candidate	Remarks
RN	Sebastián Piñera	Piñera participated in Hernán Büchi's 1989 presidential campaign and was later elected to the Senate. He was a potential presidential nominee in 1993, but his chances were ruined by a conflict with Evelyn Matthei that came to be known as Piñeragate. In 1999 he again attempted to be the nominee, but was defeated in the convention by Joaquín Lavín. In 2005 he shook the political scene by jumping into the first round independently of the UDI. Polls show him narrowly beating Frei in a runoff scenario. He was officially proclaimed by RN on 8 August 2009. He submitted his candidacy to the Electoral Service on 9 September 2009.
UDI	Sebastián Piñera	The UDI officially proclaimed Piñera as its candidate on 22 August 2009. Piñera had been proposed as the party's candidate by the UDI's Consejo Directivo in December 2008. Pre-candidates: Evelyn Matthei: She is the daughter of Air Force General Fernando Matthei, a member of the military junta that took power in the 1973 coup. She was a member of National Renewal, but in 1992 was embroiled in a conflict with Sebastián Piñera, ending with her leaving the party and joining the UDI. She has been mentioned as a potential UDI candidate, considering she is among the leading proponents of having the UDI bring its own candidate to the first round. She has said it would be "fun" to compete against Piñera. Longueira said on 9 October 2008 that she would be an excellent candidate. On 11 October 2008, she said she was willing to run for president. She announced her precandidacy on 14 October 2008. Potential candidates: Joaquín Lavín: He earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Chicago. Afterwards, in 1992, Lavín was elected mayor of Las Condes, a stronghold of the right, with 31% of the vote and reelected in 1997 with 78% of the vote. Lavín was the presidential candidate for the UDI-RN coalition Alliance for Chile in the 1999 election. He eventually lost to PS/PPD candidate Ricardo Lagos in a runoff by 200,000 votes. Lavín again represented UDI in the 2005 presidential election, but ended in third place with 23.23% of the vote, due to the presence of another right-wing candidate in the race, Sebastián Piñera, who made it to the runoff election with 25.41% of the vote. Pablo Longueira urged him to run for a third time for the presidential elections, but he refused and ended up running for a senate seat in the Valparaíso Region which he lost. Hernán Larraín: He is a senator and former president of the UDI. Longueira said on 9 October 2008 that he would be an excellent candidate. Declined candidacies: Hernán Büchi: A possible candidacy by the 1990 presidential candidate generated buzz within the UDI in June 2007. He has however declined a candidacy. Pablo Longueira: The senator officially launched his candidacy on 30 March 2007. He had announced his plans before the 2005 election took place. He stepped down "momentarily" due to "low party support" on 3 May 2007. Jacqueline van Rysselberghe: The mayor of Concepción was proclaimed, on 11 October 2006, as candidate by five UDI deputies from the Biobío Region. She has refused to campaign for the nomination, however, preferring to concentrate on her 2008 campaign for reelection as mayor. She was reelected as Concepción mayor in October 2008.
CH1	Sebastián Piñera	ChileFirst decided to support Piñera on 29 March 2009 after its leader, senator Fernando Flores, declined to run for president. It officially proclaimed him on 15 August 2009. Declined candidacies: Fernando Flores: The former minister of Salvador Allende and current senator launched a failed presidential bid for the 2005 election. He resigned from the PPD in early 2007 and launched a new party, ChileFirst. On 29 March 2009 ChileFirst decided to support Piñera after Flores declined to run for president.

''Concertación'' candidate

Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle

The Concertación selected former president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle from the Christian Democrat Party as its single candidate for president. The selection process involved a single regional primary on 5 April 2009 in the Maule and O'Higgins regions between Frei and José Antonio Gómez Urrutia from the Social Democrat Radical Party. Frei won with 65% versus 35% for Gómez. Had the percentage difference between both candidates been less than 20%, the selection process would have continued with additional primaries in other regions until 17 May.
Frei was legally proclaimed as presidential candidate by the PPD on 1 August 2009 and by the PDC, PS and PRSD on 22 August 2009. He submitted his candidacy to the Electoral Service on 12 September 2009.

Party pre-candidates

Each Concertación party selected its own pre-candidate for president. Only Frei and Gómez submitted their candidacies before the 26 January 2009 deadline.

Party	Candidate	Remarks
PRSD	José Antonio Gómez Urrutia	He was proclaimed by his party on 13 November 2008. He had announced his pre-candidacy two days earlier.
PDC	Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle	He was proclaimed by his party on 13 December 2008. Other candidates:Pablo Lorenzini: On 16 December 2008, he said he was supporting Frei's candidacy.Marcelo Trivelli: He announced his candidacy on 10 June 2007 during a television interview. Despite his lack of a support base, he declared himself the candidate of "honesty and sincerity" and respect towards the Constitution. Trivelli received heavy criticism from his own party because of his decision to run, and many party members declared it was not the appropriate time for candidacies. Trivelli has embarked on a number of trips around the country in order to create enough support to sustain his candidacy. Declined candidacy:Soledad Alvear: She was constantly mentioned as a potential contender in 2009 ever since she resigned from her candidacy in favor of Bachelet. Her supporters, the alvearistas, controlled most of the PDC institutions and she commanded widespread support in the party, despite the vocal opposition of fellow Senator Adolfo Zaldívar. On 6 December 2007, she was unofficially proclaimed a presidential candidate by Christian Democrat deputy Pablo Lorenzini. She declared herself a candidate on 23 June 2008 during a television interview. On 28 October 2008, she stepped out of the race for the presidency and resigned as PDC president after disappointing results in the municipal elections held two days earlier.
PS	Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle	The PS selected Frei as its candidate on 17 January 2009. He was the only person to submit a candidacy to the PS presidential convention. Declined candidacies:José Miguel Insulza: He declared himself a candidate on 12 December 2008. He, however, declined his candidacy on 5 January 2009, and gave his support to Frei.Ricardo Lagos: His government was highly popular and his term ended with approval ratings around 60-70%. Various supporters urged him to run again in 2009. However, his popularity has lately seen a sharp fall due to the catastrophic new transport system, planned under his presidency. Lagos has declared all doors are open to him, but has refused to confirm whether he will participate. In March 2008, he said it was unbecoming as a former head of state to participate in a primary and would refuse to do so. On 8 November 2008, he was proclaimed unanimously by the PPD's National Directive as its candidate, but Lagos never accepted the nomination. On 2 December 2008, the PPD officially proclaimed Lagos as its candidate for the presidency. However, two days later, Lagos ruled out running for the presidency, stating in a press conference "I am not, nor will I be, a presidential candidate".
PPD	Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle	The PPD selected Frei as its candidate on 24 January 2009, with 296 votes from the party's National Council, against seven for PRSD candidate José Antonio Gómez Urrutia. Other candidates:Sergio Bitar: In a 4 May 2007 interview with La Tercera, he said he was willing to be his party's presidential nominee if there was enough support. On 7 November 2008 he said that he is "without a doubt" willing to compete eventually for the presidency, but only if Ricardo Lagos's candidacy does not prosper. He declined his candidacy on 10 November 2008, following Lagos's proclamation by his party. Now that Lagos is out of the race, he may attempt a second run.Nicolás Eyzaguirre: He has said that he could participate if Lagos declines to, but he remained silent after Lagos declined his candidacy.Ricardo Lagos: On 4 December 2008 he ruled out running for the presidency, stating in a press conference "I am not, nor will I be, a presidential candidate".
Independent candidates	None	Failed candidacies:Marco Enríquez-Ominami: On 15 December 2008, he announced he was available to compete with Insulza in a Socialist Party primary. He, however, did not submit his candidacy to the PS presidential convention. On 9 January 2009, he agreed to compete in the Concertación primaries as independent after gaining the support of some council people and legislators.

Primary results

The primary was carried out on 5 April 2009 in the Maule and O'Higgins regions. Frei became the single Concertación candidate by beating Gómez by a 20-point lead, cancelling the need for further regional primaries.
''Final results.''

''Juntos Podemos'' candidate

Jorge Arrate

The Juntos Podemos Más coalition of far-left parties selected former Socialist Party member Jorge Arrate as its sole candidate for president on 25 April 2009. He was officially proclaimed as candidate on 26 April 2009. In July 2009, after his candidacy lost the support of the Humanist Party, he became a member of the Communist Party in order to comply with the law and run for president. He submitted his candidacy to the Electoral Service on 9 September 2009.

Primary results

The election to define the sole Juntos Podemos candidate was carried out on 25 April 2009 in Santiago. Arrate beat Hirsch and became the single Juntos Podemos candidate.
''Final results.''

Independent candidate

Marco Enríquez-Ominami

On 15 December 2008, he announced he was available to compete with Insulza in a Socialist Party primary. He, however, did not submit his candidacy to the PS presidential convention. On 9 January 2009, he agreed to compete in the Concertación primaries as independent after gaining the support of some council people and legislators. He did not submit his candidacy, however. Instead he is running as an independent and as of August 2009, polling above 20% and thus threatening to displace one of the coalition-backed candidates in the expected run-off election. He was proclaimed candidate by the Humanist and Ecologist parties plus several other leftist groups under the banner of a new electoral pact, a New Majority for Chile, on 13 September 2009. He submitted his candidacy to the Electoral Service on 10 September 2009.

Unsuccessful candidacies

Eduardo Artés : He was proclaimed as a Juntos Podemos Más pre-candidate by the Communist Party (Proletarian Action) on 7 December 2007. However, on 26 July 2008, the PC left the Juntos Podemos Más pact, accusing them of abandoning their founding principles in light of the pact's electoral deal with the Concertación for the upcoming October municipal elections. He quit his candidacy in July 2009. He said his candidacy was just an opportunity to present new ideas to the country, as going through with the candidacy would be too economically onerous.
Leonardo Farkas : A mining businessman. On 5 December 2008, he announced he was giving up his presidential candidacy.
Pamela Jiles : Journalist and television presenter. She announced her candidacy in February 2009 through a column in The Clinic magazine. On 4 September 2009 she stepped out of the race in support of Navarro. In the same election, she unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the lower chamber of Congress.
Luis Molina Vega A civil engineer from Tomé. Molina stepped out of the race in July 2009, due to low support.
Alejandro Navarro : Navarro used to characterize himself as a leader in the "dissident" faction of the Socialist Party, which harshly criticized what they called the "neoliberal" economic model, supporting instead Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro. Despite his involvement in a scandal due to his participation in a protest organized by the Unitary Workers Central where he attacked a policeman, with the possibility of being expelled from the Senate being considered, Navarro declared himself to be a presidential candidate in 2008. In November 2008, he quit the Socialist Party to form a new party called Broad Social Movement. He said his candidacy was necessary to "stop Piñera from winning in the first round", and still considered himself a Socialist. The MAS party proclaimed him its candidate on 11 November 2008; the party, however, was still open to stage a primary between all leftist candidates that were not part of the Concertación. Navarro has proposed to hold the primary in April 2009. On 5 May 2009 Navarro said he would step out of the race and support Arrate if polls released from then to September show the Juntos Podemos Más candidate having an advantage of seven points over him. He didn't rule out Arrate then supporting Enríquez-Ominami, if his candidacy was the strongest. Navarro was proclaimed as the official MAS candidate on 25 July 2009 with the support of other minor left groups. He submitted his candidacy to the Electoral Service on 14 September 2009. On 22 September 2009 Navarro withdrew his candidacy and gave his support to Enríquez-Ominami.
Adolfo Zaldívar : The former president of the Christian Democratic Party and a Senator at the time of his nomination, lost the last internal PDC primary to Alvear. He is the brother of senator and former Interior Minister Andrés Zaldívar. He was expelled from the PDC in December 2007, later becoming part of the Regionalist Party of the Independents. He announced his intention to run as president representing that party, and was proclaimed so on 26 April 2009. This decision was ratified on 29 August 2009. He stepped out of the race on 14 September 2009, just hours before the deadline for submission.

Coalitions for the Congressional elections

Concertación and Juntos Podemos Más

The A list conformed after the union of two political coalitions that had taken part separately in the elections of 2005. On one hand the Concertación, which was grouping to the center-left parties that since 1990 governed the country. In the other hand the left-wing Juntos Podemos Más, that it suffered an internal division after the exit of the Humanist Party.
The reason of this strange union was, the Binomial System that get out the political left from the National Congress since 1994.
The largest party inside the A list was the Christian Democrats, with the leadership of Juan Carlos Latorre who was chief of the Eduardo Frei's presidential campaign. The Socialists joined with the senator Camilo Escalona, PPD with the deputy Pepe Auth. The Radicals led by Senator Gómez, and the Communist Party with the leadership of Guillermo Teillier.

Coalition for Change

The Alliance for Chile for the elections of 2009, began with an important step, by means of I arrive of two precandidates, one of them the senator Pablo Longueira, and the mayor of Concepción, Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, both of the Independent Democratic Union, who demonstrated his availability of postulating to this post, using the regular conduits inside the coalition, nevertheless, both rejected such an option to present only a presidential candidate, who would be Sebastián Piñera.
In March 2009 two Congressmen of the Alliance for Chile obtained the speaker of the Senate and the speaker of the Deputies' Chamber, by means of an agreement with the independent bench and with the Concert, respectively. The above mentioned agreements were not lacking in polemic, since the Senator who postulated the alliance to preside at the above mentioned organism, Jovino Novoa, was harshly criticized for personeros of the Concert in view of his past as member of Augusto Pinochet Ugarte's military regime.
In spite of the critiques, the Alliance for Chile awarded a political victory on having presided at both chambers of the National Congress and some of the most influential commissions of the same one, which, they waited in the conglomerate opponent, he was benefiting Sebastián Piñera's candidacy.
After having integrated the list Clean Chile, Vote Happy, one was generated fail between the charter members of ChileFirst with regard to the position that would take the party opposite to the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2009. Whereas Jorge Schaulsohn and Senator Flores supported the candidate of the Alliance for Chile Sebastián Piñera, the deputy Esteban Valenzuela rejected to join with the center-right and resigned ChileFirst to endorse Marco Enríquez-Ominami's candidacy. The support to Piñera on the part of ChileFirst was made official on 6 May 2009, when one presented the "Coalition for the Change", electoral agreement between the Alliance for Chile, ChileFirst and other political minor movements.

New Majority for Chile

New Majority for Chile was a political coalition that grouped the Ecologist party of Chile, the Humanist Party of Chile, and diverse political and independent movements that supported the candidacy of the independent Marco Enríquez-Ominami for the presidential election of 2009. Between the movements and groups without political legal constitution that they it shaped are the Regionalist Movement, the Movement Unified of Sexual Minorities, the Movement SurDA and the Progressist Network.

Opinion polls

Presidential election

List of opinion polls released within a year of the election. Only responses from persons registered to vote are shown.

First-round scenarios

Publisher	Field date	Date published	Arrate	MEO	Frei	Piñera	Other	DK/NR	Comments
CEP	19 November – 11 December 2008	30 December 2008	—	—	31	41	7	21
La Segunda	18 December 2008	19 December 2008	—	—	36	46	6	12
La Segunda	6 April 2009	7 April 2009	1	4	33	43	7	12
La Tercera	6–7 April 2009	12 April 2009	—	3	33	42	7	15
Imaginacción	4–26 April 2009	11 May 2009	—	10.5	32.4	38.3	7.6	11.2
TNS Time	1–30 April 2009	5 May 2009	—	14	29	36	7	14
La Tercera	21–23 April 2009	26 April 2009	—	10	28	35	7	20
Ipsos		April 2009	0.3	5.1	25.4	43.3	0	25.9
La Segunda	14 May 2009	15 May 2009	1	14	27	42	4	12
Imaginacción	2–30 May 2009	11 June 2009	0.5	20.9	29.9	34.9	5.6	8.2
TNS Time	4–30 May 2009	2 June 2009	1	24	25	33	3	14
CEP	14 May – 3 June 2009	18 June 2009	1	14	30	34	3	19	Response to a questionnaire.
CEP	14 May – 3 June 2009	18 June 2009	1	13	30	37	3	16	Ballot box vote.
Ipsos	18 May – 1 June 2009	9 June 2009	1.4	20.6	24.9	34.4	2.5	16.2
Imaginacción	1–30 June 2009	14 July 2009	2.3	21.5	28.2	35.9	2.7	9.4
Mori	27 June – 9 July 2009	23 July 2009	1	13	21	43	3	19
La Segunda	8 July 2009	10 July 2009	2	15	27	38	3	15
Imaginacción	1–31 July 2009	12 August 2009	3.5	21.9	26.7	36.7	1.7	9.5
La Tercera	20–22 July 2009	26 July 2009	2	21	25	30	2	20
CERC	17 July – 3 August 2009	12 August 2009	1	14	25	39	1	20
Ipsos	24 July – 6 August 2009	19 August 2009	1.5	20.6	22.9	35.6	2.1	17.3
Direct Media	5–6 August 2009	12 August 2009	1.63	15.48	21.28	34.43	1.32	25.86
La Segunda	12 August 2009	14 August 2009	1	20	24	39	1	15
Imaginacción	1–29 August 2009	14 September 2009	2.3	20.5	28.2	37.8	2.4	10.3
CEP	30 July – 20 August 2009	3 September 2009	1	16	30	35	2	16	Response to a questionnaire.
CEP	30 July – 20 August 2009	3 September 2009	1	17	28	37	2	15	Ballot box vote.
Imaginacción	1–30 September 2009	14 October 2009	4.5	20.4	25.7	38.4	1.7	9.3
La Segunda	24 September 2009	25 September 2009	4	19	23	39	0	15
Ipsos	16 September – 6 October 2009	21 October 2009	3.7	17.8	27.2	36.7	0.3	14.3
UDP	21 September – 13 October 2009	28 October 2009	4.1	17.3	23.7	30.3	0.6	24.0
La Tercera	5–8 October 2009	10 October 2009	6	24	20	39	0	11
CERC	2–13 October 2009	20 October 2009	3	20	20	41	0	16
El Mercurio-Opina	10–12 October 2009	18 October 2009	4.9	21.5	22.8	38.0	0	12.7
Giro País-Subjetiva	9–20 October 2009	31 October 2009	4.7	19.3	28.6	36.9	0	10.5
Imaginacción	1–31 October 2009	16 November 2009	6.4	22.3	27.0	37.8	0	6.5
CEP	8–30 October 2009	11 November 2009	4	17	26	35	0	18	Response to a questionnaire.
CEP	8–30 October 2009	11 November 2009	5	19	26	36	0	14	Ballot box vote.
El Mercurio-Opina	3–4 November 2009	7 November 2009	6.1	20.4	21.5	38.0	0	14.0	Ballot box vote.
La Segunda	18 November 2009	20 November 2009	7	20	24	38	0	11
El Mercurio-Opina	5–6 December 2009	9 December 2009	6.8	19.5	22.6	38.2	0	12.9	Ballot box vote.

DK/NR: Don't know / No response.

Runoff scenarios

Frei vs. Piñera

Publisher	Field date	Date published	Frei	Piñera	DK/NR	Comments
CEP	19 November – 11 December 2008	30 December 2008	34	44	22
Imaginacción	6–28 December 2008	8 January 2009	42.5	44.8	12.7
La Segunda-UDD	18 December 2008	19 December 2008	38	46	16
TNS Time	January 2009	31 January 2009	40	45	15
Imaginacción	3–31 January 2009	6 February 2009	42.3	45.6	12.1
TNS Time	2–26 February 2009	10 March 2009	38	43	19
Imaginacción	7–28 February 2009	4 March 2009	43.4	46.8	9.8
La Segunda-UDD	5 March 2009	6 March 2009	37	46	17
TNS Time	2–30 March 2009	31 March 2009	41	39	20
Imaginacción	2–31 March 2009	8 April 2009	44.3	44.7	11.0
La Segunda-UDD	6 April 2009	7 April 2009	39	45	16
La Tercera	6–7 April 2009	12 April 2009	40	46	14
Imaginacción	4–26 April 2009	11 May 2009	43.2	43.8	13.0
TNS Time	1–30 April 2009	5 May 2009	41	43	16
CERC	13–27 April 2009	14 May 2009	33	47	20
La Tercera	21–23 April 2009	26 April 2009	39	43	18
Giro País-Subjetiva	30 April – 10 May 2009	16 May 2009	40.8	37.9	21.3
La Segunda-UDD	14 May 2009	15 May 2009	34	44	22
Imaginacción	2–30 May 2009	11 June 2009	43.1	44.2	12.7
TNS Time	4–30 May 2009	2 June 2009	38	43	19
CEP	14 May – 3 June 2009	18 June 2009	39	39	22	Response to a questionnaire.
CEP	14 May – 3 June 2009	18 June 2009	39	41	20	Ballot box vote.
Ipsos	18 May – 1 June 2009	9 June 2009	39.6	42.3	18.1
Imaginacción	1–30 June 2009	14 July 2009	41.9	43.3	14.8
MORI	27 June – 9 July 2009	23 July 2009	30	46	24
La Segunda-UDD	8 July 2009	10 July 2009	39	43	18
Imaginacción	1–31 July 2009	12 August 2009	42.8	44.5	12.7
CERC	17 July – 3 August 2009	12 August 2009	36	44	20
Ipsos	24 July – 6 August 2009	19 August 2009	38.1	45.5	16.4
Direct Media	5–6 August 2009	12 August 2009	30.97	40.89	28.14
CEP	30 July – 20 August 2009	3 September 2009	39	39	22	Response to a questionnaire.
CEP	30 July – 20 August 2009	3 September 2009	39	42	19	Ballot box vote.
La Segunda-UDD	12 August 2009	14 August 2009	36	45	19
Imaginacción	1–29 August 2009	14 September 2009	42.6	44.6	12.8
Imaginacción	1–30 September 2009	14 October 2009	42.2	45.2	12.6
La Segunda-UDD	24 September 2009	25 September 2009	38	47	15
Ipsos	16 September – 6 October 2009	21 October 2009	39.6	44.5	15.9
UDP	21 September – 13 October 2009	28 October 2009	36.3	35.5	28.2
La Tercera	5–8 October 2009	10 October 2009	39	48	13
El Mercurio-Opina	10–12 October 2009	18 October 2009	38.1	42.5	19.4	Ballot box vote.
Giro País-Subjetiva	9–20 October 2009	31 October 2009	42.0	42.2	15.8
Imaginacción	1–31 October 2009	16 November 2009	42.1	45.8	12.1
CEP	8–30 October 2009	11 November 2009	36	40	24	Response to a questionnaire.
CEP	8–30 October 2009	11 November 2009	37	43	20	Ballot box vote.
El Mercurio-Opina	3–4 November 2009	7 November 2009	36.8	42.7	20.5	Ballot box vote.
La Segunda-UDD	18 November 2009	20 November 2009	37	47	16
El Mercurio-Opina	5–6 December 2009	9 December 2009	34.4	42.5	23.1	Ballot box vote.
El Mercurio-Opina	15–17 December 2009	19 December 2009	39.7	46.2	14.1	Ballot box vote.
La Segunda-UDD	17 December 2009	18 December 2009	43	48	9
El Mercurio-Opina	5–7 January 2010	9 January 2010	41.0	46.1	12.9	Ballot box vote.

DK/NR: Don't know / No response.

Enríquez-Ominami vs. Piñera

Publisher	Field date	Date published	MEO	Piñera	DK/NR	Comments
La Segunda-UDD	14 May 2009	15 May 2009	37	45	18
MORI	27 June – 9 July 2009	23 July 2009	23	47	30
La Segunda-UDD	8 July 2009	10 July 2009	36	45	19
La Tercera	20–22 July 2009	26 July 2009	22	49	29
CERC	17 July – 3 August 2009	12 August 2009	29	44	27
Ipsos	24 July – 6 August 2009	19 August 2009	40.3	43.6	16.1
Direct Media	5–6 August 2009	12 August 2009	31.29	38.88	29.83
CEP	30 July – 20 August 2009	3 September 2009	33	40	27	Response to a questionnaire.
CEP	30 July – 20 August 2009	3 September 2009	34	44	22	Ballot box vote.
La Segunda-UDD	12 August 2009	14 August 2009	37	45	18
Imaginacción	1–30 September 2009	14 October 2009	39.3	45.9	14.8
La Segunda-UDD	24 September 2009	25 September 2009	40	47	13
Ipsos	16 September – 6 October 2009	21 October 2009	42.3	42.8	14.9
UDP	21 September – 13 October 2009	28 October 2009	36.4	34.0	29.6
La Tercera	5–8 October 2009	10 October 2009	43	44	13
El Mercurio-Opina	10–12 October 2009	18 October 2009	40.3	42.9	16.8	Ballot-box vote.
Giro País-Subjetiva	9–20 October 2009	31 October 2009	41.1	40.2	18.7
Imaginacción	1–31 October 2009	16 November 2009	42.7	43.4	13.9
CEP	8–30 October 2009	11 November 2009	35	37	28	Response to a questionnaire.
CEP	8–30 October 2009	11 November 2009	37	40	23	Ballot box vote.
El Mercurio-Opina	3–4 November 2009	7 November 2009	37.7	41.9	20.4	Ballot-box vote.
La Segunda-UDD	18 November 2009	20 November 2009	40	44	16
El Mercurio-Opina	5–6 December 2009	9 December 2009	34.8	40.7	24.5	Ballot-box vote.

DK/NR: Don't know / No response.

Arrate vs. Piñera

Publisher	Field date	Date published	Arrate	Piñera	DK/NR	Comments
La Tercera	5–8 October 2009	10 October 2009	33	51	16

DK/NR: Don't know / No response.

Enríquez-Ominami vs. Frei

Publisher	Field date	Date published	MEO	Frei	DK/NR	Comments
UDP	21 September – 13 October 2009	28 October 2009	32.3	31.9	35.8

DK/NR: Don't know / No response.

Debates

The first debate was organized by TVN and took place in Studio #9 at the station's main headquarters in Santiago. It was broadcast live on 23 September 2009 at 10:40 p.m and included all four candidates. A poll published by Ipsos the following day, showed that Enríquez-Ominami, Arrate and Piñera were each considered to have had the best performance over the rest, with 29-30% of support, while Frei's showing only had the support of 9%. Frei was seen by 45% as the worst performer, followed by Piñera, Arrate and Enríquez-Ominami. Another poll by La Segunda found 23% thought Piñera had won the debate, followed by Arrate, Enríquez-Ominami and Frei. 31% thought none had won the debate.
The second debate was organized by Archi and Mayor University. It took place at 8:30 AM on 9 October 2009. It was a radio-only debate, though some local 24-hour news channels broadcast live some parts of it. A poll carried out by Mayor University showed Piñera had won the debate by 41%, followed by Enríquez-Ominami, Arrate and Frei Ruiz-Tagle.
There was an online debate on 4 November, organized by Terra and Radio Cooperativa. Only Arrate was present after the other three candidates declined to attend. Frei and Piñera had confirmed their presence in May, while Enríquez-Ominami backed down on the same day of the debate.
A debate to discuss regional issues took place on 6 November at 9 AM in Talca's casino. It was organized by the National Press Association and was attended by all four candidates.
A fifth debate took place on 9 November at Canal 13's studios in Santiago, which was broadcast live at 10 PM. All four candidates were present. This debate was notable because the candidates were able to ask questions to one another and freely talk to each other.
The last debate of the first round was organized by the National Television Association and broadcast live on 16 November at 10 PM by all terrestrial television stations. All candidates attended. There was no audience present.
For the second round, there was a single debate between the two candidates. It was organized by Anatel and broadcast at 10 PM by all terrestrial television stations on 11 January 2010.

Results

President

On 20 December 2009, the Juntos Podemos Más coalition gave its support to Eduardo Frei's candidacy, after the former president agreed to include a number of policies into his government program. Two days later, Jorge Arrate also gave his full support to Frei. On 13 January 2010 Enríquez-Ominami held a press conference to state that he would vote for Frei, although he did not say his name. He had previously said that voting for Piñera would be a regression and voting for Frei would not be an advancement.