Immense traffic jams, known as “tacos” in Chile, were obstacles to voters who went to vote in the metropolitan area of Santiago this Sunday (19), under scorching sun and 36ºC heat at midday. In rural regions, there were records of difficulties in accessing public transport.
“You have to really want to vote. You have to face heat, crowded and rare transport and even the queue at the polling center,” said Pau Jelman, 44, who was trying to get to the school he is registered with in the Ñuñoa neighborhood.
“First it took me an hour and a half to get from the south to Las Condes to transport a couple who were going to vote. Now I’ve been trying to find an alternative to get out of here for more than 45 minutes, because the GPS shows all the congested lanes,” said the taxi driver Emiliano Ruben, who was in the Monumental Stadium, one of the largest voting centers in the capital, crowded with people.
Like many voters, both Chilean presidential candidates complained about the transportation system on election day. In an audio, the ultra-rightist José Antonio Kast stated that in some regions there are few buses and made a request to the government to make all the system’s capacity available so that people can vote. “Meanwhile, I appeal to society, to neighbors who have vehicles, pickup trucks, which help to bring as many people as possible to the polling stations.”
Gabriel Boric, in turn, on a flight stopover from Punta Arenas, his hometown, where he voted for the capital, released an audio in which he said he had received several reports about problems in public transport both in the metropolitan region and in the countryside.
“More than assigning responsibilities, what I ask is that the government seek the solution, then we see what happened. But we know of places where only 50% of the bus fleet is working. There are rural regions where public transport is simply not working. is passing.”
Transport Minister Gloria Hutt, however, denied a decrease in the flow of buses and said that public transport vehicles are working “as in a normal working day”. “What we’ve seen in the last few hours is that there are episodes of congestion, and that affects public transport.”
Hutt ruled out the possibility that buses were taken out of circulation to impede voter mobility. “We didn’t do that, there are contracts to fulfill between the companies and the ministry, and we are watching for this to be fulfilled”. Jaime Bellolio, government spokesman, was in the same vein. “We are in a polarized moment, they are talking lies. There is a delay because there is a lot of traffic.”
Boric’s ally, Giorgio Jackson says it is “difficult for people to get up in the morning and, in this heat, face lines and traffic jams to vote.” The deputy said that, on Thursday (16), he made a request for the Ministry of Transport to monitor the companies and received in response the information that there would be no action different from what is already happening on a daily basis.
Both candidates voted at practically the same time, around 9:20 am. Boric went to a school in Punta Arenas, and Kast to a polling place in Paine, in the metropolitan area of Santiago.
The leftist arrived accompanied by his girlfriend, Irina Karamanos, and his brother Simón. “The sense of historic responsibility I feel is tremendous. I am hopeful and calm, because we had a clean campaign, without spreading lies. Tonight, we will respect the result, whatever it may be.”
Kast said he expected the result to be “very tight” and said he was “confident that Servel’s data [órgão eleitoral chileno] they will be correct.” “But if the result is too tight, the polling stations will play an important role, and that election could be set in the electoral courts.”
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