Undersecretary Carolina Valdivia opens the Second Presidential Vote of Chileans abroad

Reviewing the efforts made by the Foreign Ministry to collaborate with the electoral process and calling on fellow citizens abroad to participate, the Undersecretary of Foreign Relations, Carolina Valdivia, began voting abroad.

Through a live videoconference, she spoke with the Electoral Delegate in Wellington, New Zealand, Juan Enrique Loyer, who was in charge of supervising the opening of the first polling stations.

During the activity, the Undersecretary stressed the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in carrying out the electoral process: "Since the first election in which Chileans abroad were able to vote (2017), our embassies and consulates have made great strides towards this and I would like to highlight, very especially, the effort made today - in the midst of the pandemic - to find and enable polling stations that allow compliance with the existing health regulations in each country," she commented.

From New Zealand, the Electoral Delegate commented on the main data that encompasses the election in the oceanic country, highlighting that there are two authorized voting locations, in Wellington and Auckland, where there are 833 and 886 qualified voters, respectively.

During the activity, the Undersecretary was accompanied by the President of the Electoral Service, Andrés Tagle; the director of the organization, Raúl García, and the Director of the Foreign Ministry's Directorate for Chilean Communities, Roberto Ebert.

In total, 71,018 people are authorized to vote in these elections, distributed in 248 tables, in the 64 countries where polling stations have been arranged.

Starting at 4:00 p.m. in Chile, the first polling stations began to open in Oceania and Asia. Then Europe, Africa, and finally America will follow, the last being those located in cities on the west coast of the United States, at about 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 19 (Chile time).