Presidential elections in Chile (1970)
The 1970 presidential election in Chile took place on September 4th.
Candidates
Unidad Popular
The Socialist Senator Salvador Allende Gossens ran for the Unidad Popular (UP) . The doctor had been a Senator for Valparaíso since 1945 and stood as a candidate for the Frente de Acción Popular alliance in 1952, 1958 and 1964 . The declared aim of the UP was the democratic transformation of Chile to socialism .
Partido Nacional
The non-party ex-president Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez stood for the rights represented by the Partido Nacional . Between 1958 and 1964, Allesandri headed a government supported by liberals, conservatives and radicals, which pursued an economically liberal policy domestically and leaned on foreign policy to the USA under President John F. Kennedy .
Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Chile
The center-left was represented in these elections by the Christian Democrat Radomiro Tomić . The Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Chile (PDC) set up its former party leader, who intended to continue the moderately left-wing policy of the previous President Eduardo Frei Montalva and who stood up as an advocate of national sovereignty and the Chileanization of copper .
choice
Election result
| candidate | alliance | be right | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salvador Allende Gossens |
 Unidad Popular
|
1,075,616 | 36.6 |
| Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez |
 Partido Nacional
|
1,036,278 | 34.9 |
| Radomiro Tomic |
 Democracia Cristiana
|
824.849 | 27.8 |
| Votes cast | 2,936,743 | 100 | |
Source: El Mercurio, September 5, 1970
Runoff election in the National Congress
Since no candidate obtained an absolute majority in the popular elections, the right to determine the president was transferred to parliament . For this purpose, both chambers met as a congreso pleno and elected Salvador Allende as the new president on October 24th. Although the UP only had 83 out of 200 members of Congress, Allende secured a majority as the Christian Democrats agreed to vote for the winner of the first round of voting. Allende could therefore count on a comfortable majority of 157 votes.
The runoff election was overshadowed by a CIA-initiated assassination attempt on constitutional General René Schneider , who succumbed on October 25th.
| candidate | alliance | be right |
|---|---|---|
| Salvador Allende Gossens | Unidad Popular |
153 |
| Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez |
Partido Nacional
|
35 |
| Abstentions | 7th | |
| Votes cast | 195 | |
Individual evidence
- ^ Socialist Victory Die Zeit, September 11, 1970