2021 Chilean general election
were held in Chile on 21 November 2021, including presidential, parliamentary and regional elections. Voters went to the polls to elect a president to serve a four-year term, 27 of 50 members of the Senate to serve an eight-year term, all 155 members of the Chamber of Deputies to serve a four-year term and all 302 members of the regional boards to serve a three-year term. Following an electoral reform in 2015, the Senate increased its membership from 38 to 43 in 2017 and grew to its full size of 50 seats after this election.
Despite narrowly trailing conservative candidate José Antonio Kast in the first round of the presidential election, leftist candidate Gabriel Boric emerged as the winner of the second round with 56% of the vote, a larger margin than predicted by opinion polls. Kast conceded defeat shortly after voting ended. At the age of 35, Boric became the youngest president ever elected in Chile and also set a record for receiving the highest number of votes in Chilean history. The turnout in the second round increased to 56%, the highest since voting became voluntary in Chile in 2013.
In the parliamentary elections the center-right coalition Chile Podemos Más remained the largest bloc in both chambers and increased their number of senators, despite seeing their vote share fall by more than 10 percentage points compared to the previous election. On the left, the new coalition Apruebo Dignidad saw gains at the expense of the center-left New Social Pact, becoming the second largest bloc in the Chamber of Deputies. However, NPS won more seats in the Senate. New parties, including the far-right Republican Party and the populist Party of the People, also gained several seats. Consequently, the newly elected Congress was split evenly between the combined left and right, with the non-aligned congresspeople holding the balance of power.
On 11 March 2022 all the newly elected authorities, including president-elect Boric, took office.
Analysis
The 2021 Chilean election cycle was notable for its polarization, representing a departure from the country's political normality. Against the backdrop of the 2019 protests, the writing of a new constitution, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the dominant center-left and center-right coalitions that had ruled the country since the end of the military dictatorship experienced a significant drop in support in the elections for mayors, governors, and members of the Constitutional Convention held on May 15 and 16.In the subsequent presidential election, candidates from the traditional centrist coalitions finished in fourth and fifth place, while two candidates from newly formed parties and coalitions, Kast and Boric, qualified for the second round. This represented a departure from the country's political history, which had repeatedly seen power bounce between center-right and center-left parties with little structural movement between presidents.
The desire for change among voters led them to reject the traditional political parties and support candidates from new parties. Kast of the far-right Republican Party ran a campaign on populist and Christian conservative values, emphasizing "law and order" and drawing comparisons with US president Donald Trump and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. In contrast, Boric, a member of the left-wing italic=no coalition, campaigned on a progressive message reflecting the ideas behind the 2019 protests. He advocated for broadening the social safety net, higher taxes on the wealthy, combating climate change, social justice, and change to the current privatized pension system. Boric also supported the ongoing writing of a new Chilean constitution, while Kast repeatedly said he would interfere to stop its ratification if elected.
Electoral system
The President is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round will be held.The 50 members of the Senate are elected for eight-year terms, with around half of the Senators renewed at each general election. Senators are elected from 16 multi-member constituencies of between two and five seats based on the regions. Seats are filled by party list proportional representation. Each voter votes for one party list or list of a coalition. Seats are allocated by the d'Hondt method.The 2021 elections saw 27 members elected, representing the regions of Antofagasta, Biobío, Coquimbo, O'Higgins, Los Lagos, Los Ríos, Magallanes and Santiago Metropolitan Region.
In the National Congress, the 155 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected from 28 multi-member constituencies with between three and eight seats by party list proportional representation. Each voter votes for one party list or list of a coalition. Seats are allocated by the d'Hondt method.
Presidential candidates
Summary of candidates
Below is the list of candidacies for president accepted by the Electoral Service on 27 August 2021. Boric's and Sichel's candidacies were automatically accepted after they were proclaimed the winner of their respective primaries by the Election Certification Tribunal.| Candidate | Endorsement | Ideology |
Gabriel Boric Social Convergence | italic=no:
| |
| José Antonio Kast Republican Party | Christian Social Front:
| |
| Yasna Provoste Christian Democratic Party | New Social Pact:
| |
| Sebastián Sichel Independent | italic=no: | |
| Eduardo Artés Patriotic Union | Patriotic Union:
| |
| Marco Enríquez-Ominami Progressive Party | Progressive Party | |
Franco Parisi Party of the People | Party of the People |
Apruebo Dignidad
The italic=no coalition decided its presidential candidate in the publicly-funded primaries held nationwide on 18 July 2021, won by lawmaker Gabriel Boric with 60% of the vote.On 17 March 2021, Boric's party, Social Convergence, proclaimed him as its presidential candidate. The Commons Party's leadership also announced on 17 March 2021 that it would propose Boric as its presidential candidate in a meeting of the party's leadership the following Saturday. On 23 March 2021, Democratic Revolution, the coalition's largest party, proclaimed Boric as its presidential candidate. On 29 May 2021, the Common Force movement gave its support to Boric, after he beat Marcelo Díaz in a plebiscite held on May 27–28. On 17 August 2021, the Acción Humanista movement proclaimed him as its candidate.
Defeated in primary
- Daniel Jadue : Jadue is the mayor of Recoleta and a member of the Communist Party of Chile. He studied sociology at the University of Chile, and also studied total quality management at the Catholic University of the North. He appeared as the candidate with the most support in several opinion polls.
Dropped out
- Marcelo Díaz : In November 2020 the Unir Movement presented the deputy and former spokesman as pre-candidate. On 18 May 2021 he dropped out of the race and lent his support to Boric.
- Jaime Mulet : The current president of the FRVS and deputy was proclaimed as his party's presidential candidate in September 2020. In May 2021, he received the support of the Christian Left movement. On 8 July 2021, the FRVS chose to support the candidacy of Daniel Jadue.
Chile Podemos Más
Sichel was minister of Social Development and president of BancoEstado during the second administration of President Sebastián Piñera. He participated as an independent candidate in the italic=no primary, supported by former PDC supporters and other centrist political movements.
Defeated in primary
- Ignacio Briones : Briones is a university professor and economist who served as minister of Finance between 2019 and 2021. He was unanimously proclaimed by the Political Evolution party as their presidential candidate on 30 January 2021. He describes himself as a social liberal and seeks to promote liberal policies, although he is against abortion.
- Mario Desbordes : Desbordes became minister of Defense in July 2020. Before that, he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies. He was also president of his party between 2018 and 2020 and secretary-general between 2010 and 2018. During the first administration of President Sebastián Piñera, he had a stint as undersecretary of Investigations. He was proclaimed by the PRI party as their candidate on 29 December 2020. On 23 January 2021 his own party, RN, chose him as their contender for the italic=no primary race after winning nearly 73% of the vote of the General Council.
- Joaquín Lavín : Lavín studied economics at the University of Chicago. He was a presidential candidate in the 1999 and 2005 elections. He was also an economic appraiser of the neoliberal policies of Chile's military dictatorship. As mayor of Las Condes he actively promoted social housing programs for the poor and social integration with the rest of the cities, as well as enlarged use of technology in law enforcement and moderate social policies. He appeared as the candidate with the most support in most opinion polls.