Chileans vote in highly polarized presidential election

Chileans head to the polls to elect the country’s next president following a polarizing campaign in which leading candidates vowed to chart a new direction in the region’s most economically advanced country

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chileans will vote for a new president Sunday following a polarizing campaign in which the leading candidates vowed to chart starkly different paths for the region's most economically advanced country staggered by a recent wave of social unrest.

Pre-election polls point to a large number of undecided voters but consistently have favored two of the seven candidates running: former student protest leader Gabriel Boric and his ideological opposite, José Antonio Kast, who has a history of defending Chile's military dictatorship.

But neither is expected to garner enough support to cross the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff vote next month. Within striking distance of the two frontrunners are center-right candidate Sebastián Sichel and center left former Education Minister Yasna Provoste. Also up for grabs is Chile's entire 155-seat lower house of congress and about half the senate.

Boric, 35, would become Chile's youngest modern president. He was among several student activists elected to congress in 2014 after leading protests for better and higher quality education. Running as the head of a broad alliance that includes Chile's Communist Party, if elected he says he will raise taxes on the “super rich” to expand social services and boost protections of the environment.