Chileans vote to change their constitution in hopes of better pensions and socioeconomic equality
Chileans have overwhelmingly voted to rewrite the South American country’s dictatorship-era constitution, which its critics see as favouring deep levels of socioeconomic inequality that fuelled a wave of violent protests in 2019 and 2020.
With 90.78 per cent of polling stations counted, 78.24 per cent voted in favour of a new constitution, while 21.76 voted against, according to figures released by the Electoral Service on Sunday night, (Monday AEDT).
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“This is a triumph for all Chileans who love democracy, unity and peace,” said a President Sebastian Pinera as the votes were being counted.
About 79 per cent of voters supported having the charter be drafted by a convention of 155 elected citizens rather than a convention with half its members elected citizens and half members of Congress.
Among the 60,000 Chileans living abroad who voted in 65 nations, the vote was 86 per cent for a new constitution and 13 per cent against, officials said.
Electoral and government officials and analysts pointed to a particularly high turnout and significant representation of young people among voters, despite the country continuing to be blighted by the coronavirus pandemic and recent violence linked to the demonstrations.
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