Chileans Know Little About This Weekend's Elections, Polls Say

The consulting firm IPSOS on Thursday revealed a recent study showing high levels of uncertainty and lack of information among Chile's electorate as 57 percent of interviewees had no precisions over the subnational elections to take place on May 15 and 16.

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The survey interviewed 600 people, only 43 percent of whom knew that four public office posts would be voted this weekend. The figure decreased by 31 percent among the population under 35 years of age.   

Even though 42 percent of interviewees assured they would vote, the study also showed that 58 percent of people believed that the turnout would be lower than expected due to the pandemic.

IPSOS noted that 23 percent of pollsters use social networks as information sources on the elections, while 22 percent access the Electoral Service website. Only 18 percent of people get such information from the national press, 6 percent through television, and 5 percent through radio or print media.

"We observe a high level of confusion and indecision a few days before the elections, even among those people who are more determined to vote. The situation is worrying and makes us think about future reformulations of the Electoral Strip", Ipsos Public Studies manager Alejandra Ojeda said.

This weekend, over 14 million Chileans will participate in one of the most important elections since the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in 1990.

Besides the traditional mayors and councilmen positions, voters will elect for the first time 16 governors and 155 members of the Constituent Convention (CC), whose formation was approved in a referendum in October 2020.

So far, there are no polls that anticipate a clear result or reveal voting intentions in CC representatives' election due to a large number of candidates (over 1300), who are distributed in more than 70 lists and 28 districts. The complexity of the elections and the number of candidacies might discourage the voting process.