This Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27, Chileans must return to the polls to vote in the municipal and regional elections, where hundreds of mayors and councilors, in addition to governors and regional councilors, are elected. On June 29, the political parties registered their lists and pacts for the elections, in which they confirmed their candidates. Each of the candidates for local administration positions appear on the ballots with a number that identifies them, to which is added a letter that indicates the list to which they belong. Candidates who present themselves completely independently do not have a letter that indicates their adherence to any pact or party.

At the beginning of August, the list of accepted and rejected applications was published. The ruling party and the opposition to the president’s left-wing government Gabriel Boric They appear in the elections separately, with a high fragmentation that will include other small formations and the independents that managed to gather the sponsorships requested by the Electoral Service of Chile (Servel), the body in charge of organizing electoral processes in the South American country. .

Primaries and registration

On June 9, some political parties carried out legal primary elections to define their candidates in the October elections. In this process, applicants were appointed to the positions of mayors and governors in municipalities and regions defined by the formations themselves. In the rest of the country, where primaries were not held, candidates were nominated through agreements between party leaders. Both these candidates and those who belong to the parties that did not participate in the primary registered directly with Servel on June 29.

The ruling party: united in mayors and divided in governors

President Boric had expressed his desire for the formations that support his coalition to appear united in these elections. The objective was met, at least, for the mayoral vote, where the center-left and the official left, in addition to the Christian Democratic Party, will appear under the alliance With you Chile Better. In the councilors, separate lists were established to achieve better electivity. The Chile Much Mejor lists (Socialist Party, Christian Democratic Party and Party for Democracy) were registered there; For Chile, We Seguimos (Broad Front, Communist Party and Humanist Action); Liberal Greens for a Safe Commune (Liberal Party and Social Green Regionalist Federation); and Your Radical Commune (Radical Party).

The dispersion and lack of agreements were reflected in the regional elections. The lack of incentives to reach single candidates in the gubernatorial election—which has a second round scheduled for November 24 for the first two majorities—led different groups to register separately, which will compete against each other. After the unsuccessful negotiations to achieve unity, the sector registered the blocks For Chile and its Regions (Socialist Party, Party for Democracy, Broad Front, Communist Party and Humanist Action); Liberal Green Regions (Liberal Party and Social Green Regionalist Federation); Your Radical Region (Radical Party); and For a Better Chile (Christian Democratic Party).

The fragmented opposition

The lack of official unity also extended to the opposition, where the dispersion scenario is worse. None of the parties or blocks reached a formal agreement to run under the same list and they only reached meeting points through omission or cross-support for candidates with greater possibilities.

The traditional right It is presented again under the brand Chile Vamos (National Renovation, Independent Democratic Union and Evópoli) in the elections of mayors and regional governors, and will be divided into the elections of councilors and regional councilors.

The different opposition sensitivities will also manifest themselves with varied lists. The extreme right will have Republican Party —led by former presidential candidate José Antonio Kast—, and the Social Christian Party —a conservative formation linked to evangelical churches— with their own lists for all positions. The political center, which brings together some former members of the defunct center-left Concertación coalition, will form a list called the Democratic Center (Yellows for Chile and Democrats). The populist People’s Party (PDG)which was founded by former presidential candidate Franco Parisi, has also taken its own path for this electoral process.

The other registered formations

In addition to the large political blocs, the municipal and regional elections will have competitors from smaller formations, many of them without representatives in the Chilean National Congress. One of the registered pacts is Izquierda Ecologista Popular (Popular Party, Equality Party and Humanist Party), which is made up of left-wing groups that are not in the ruling party. Added to them is the Ecologists, Animalists and Independents list, which is led by the Popular Green Alliance Party, a group that calls itself animalist and environmentalist. The Left Workers and Independents bloc, which is led by the Revolutionary Workers Party, a Trotskyist-oriented organization, also registered.

The candidates

On August 9, Servel published the list of candidates registered for the elections. On the organization’s website The complete list of applicants is available, which can be searched by municipality or specific region.

Lists by letters

Each pact or list that is presented in the elections has a list that identifies them in each election. The Popular Ecologist Left (List B) appears in the mayoral candidates; Christian Social Party and Independents (List F); Contigo Chile Mejor (List H); Left of Workers and Independents (List K); People’s and Independents Party (List P); Democratic Center (List R); Ecologists, Animalists and Independents (List X); Republicans and Independents (List Y); and Z. Chile Vamos (List Z). In the council elections, the lists Por Chile, Seguimos (List A) are added; Chile Vamos UDI-Evópoli and Independientes (List E); Liberal Greens for a Safe Commune (List G); Chile Vamos National Renewal – Independents (List I); Your Radical Commune (List T); and Chile Much Mejor (List U).

In the governors there are the Democratic and Independent pacts (List D); Yellows and Independents (List J); Your Radical Region (List L); Liberal Green Regions (List M); and For Chile and its Regions (List O); and For a Better Chile (List Q). In the election of regional councilors, All and All for Chile appear (List C); The Best for Chile (List N); Frente Amplio (List S); Chile Vamos UDI – Independents (List V); and Chile Vamos Evópoli – Independents (List W).