Chile restores compulsory voting in elections

MADRID, 20 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Chilean Chamber of Deputies has approved this Monday a bill with the modifications of the Senate that restores the compulsory vote in the elections, all this ten years after its repeal.

With 124 votes in favor, six against and three abstentions, the Chilean Lower House has ratified the return to compulsory voting, leaving voluntary suffrage behind after a progressive increase in abstention in recent years, as reported by the Chilean Congress in a statement.

Thus, with this new law, registration in the electoral registers will be automatic and voting will be compulsory, as it was in the last constitutional referendum on September 4.

The reform, which was born in the Chamber of Deputies, was dispatched to the second stage of the Senate in June 2021. Now, with its approval, the proposal has been left in the hands of the Executive to be enacted as law, reported 'Bio Bio Chile '.

In the last presidential elections, held in November 2021 and in which Gabriel Boric won, participation in the first round was 47.33 percent, while in the second it grew to 55.64 points.

In contrast, in the last constitutional referendum, participation was over 80 percent, which is why both chambers of the Chilean Congress have defended the measure.

"The good or bad politicians depended on those who did not vote because the low participation generated a crisis of institutionality and legitimacy of our authorities. Today we can reverse it. The plebiscite was a good indicator, where more than 80 percent of the people participated," has asserted Andrés Longton, deputy of the conservative National Renewal.

Likewise, the defenders of the measure have argued that this change "will allow more robust electoral results, with more bases and legitimacy." In addition, in his opinion, the compulsory vote will make it possible to train "more responsible" politicians and public officials, closing the path to "clientelism with simple and populist ideas."