Chile's Kast jumps to early lead in election, second-round likely
The Hindu
With 10.89% of the vote counted, Mr. Kast had received 29.3% of ballots versus 23.61% for leftist Gabriel Boric, his main opponent.
Jose Antonio Kast, a right-wing former congressman who has promised a harsh crackdown on crime, jumped to an early lead on Sunday evening in Chile's most divisive presidential election since the country's 1990 return to democracy.
With 10.89% of the vote counted, Mr. Kast had received 29.3% of ballots versus 23.61% for leftist Gabriel Boric, his main opponent. If that trend held it would mean the two candidates would head for a second-round run-off in December.
Long lines developed at many polling stations amid coronavirus-related social distancing protocols and relatively high turnout. Many polls remained open past the expected closing time of 6 p.m. in order to accommodate voters, many of whom had been waiting for more than two hours in nearly 90 Fahrenheit (31 Celsius) heat.
With the clock ticking down to the Lok Sabha election counting day on Tuesday, opposing fronts are perceptibly edgy and poised to continue the rancorous skirmishing that marked the campaign season in Kerala. The United Democratic Front, led by the Congress, is seemingly basking in the “interim victory” granted by various exit polls. The UDF discerns that its poll strategy of turning the polls foremostly into a damning referendum on the Left Democratic Front government’s perceived failures rather than BJP’s “divisive politics” at the national level stood a fighting chance of paying off.