Double voting at the University of Chile: The institution will elect its rector and the president of the FECH (Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile) this Tuesday.

For the first time in the history of elections for the Rector of the University of Chile, the process will be conducted electronically, which adds a significant degree of uncertainty to the process that will take place this Tuesday, from 9 am to 5 pm. This time, there are four candidates on the virtual ballot: Francisco Martínez, Dean of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences; Pablo Ruiz-Tagle, Dean of the Faculty of Law; Alejandra Mizala, professor at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and Sergio Lavandero, professor at the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The first two were present on the "Desde la Redacción" program on La Tercera last week, while the latter two declined to attend. Projections suggest that a second round is the most likely outcome. To avoid this, one of the four candidates would need to achieve at least 50% of the weighted votes, depending on the number of hours each eligible academic has to vote. This time, the electorate consists of 4,222 people, which translates to 3,193.25 weighted votes. Therefore, a large number of supporters does not always guarantee a majority. If there is no winner in the first round, a runoff election between the two candidates with the most votes will be held on Tuesday, June 2nd. It should be noted that Rosa Devés did not need a runoff to win the Rectorship in 2022 and become the first woman to hold the position, winning with 51.6% of the votes in the first round, defeating Sergio Lavandero, Pablo Oyarzún, and Kemy Oyarzún. Because the vote is electronic for this election, the results of the first round, which aims to find a successor to Devés to hold the position of Rector until 2030, will be known this Tuesday. Computers will be available for voting at the Central Building of the institution, and voting can also be done from any mobile device. The voting system was designed to be auditable during and after the election. FECH (Federation of Students of the University of Chile) Today is also the second and final day of elections for the Federation of Students of the University of Chile (FECH), an organization that has experienced low student participation in recent years, leading to a period of leadership vacuum. In fact, a recent founding congress was held, which was intended to be a boost for the federation. It seemed to be heading in that direction after Catalina Lufín won the first election following that process, reaching the minimum thresholds established for that occasion. However, the subsequent quorums, which were supposed to increase, were not achieved, leaving FECH without official representation once again. This led to the current process, with the lists "Conectemos la Chile" and "Nuevo Horizonte" vying to lead the organization. The first list, composed of the Communist Youth and the Broad Front, is led by Laura Mlynarz, a member of the PC (Communist Party). The second list is led by Ricardo Román, a member of the Socialist Party. At the time of this writing, information indicated that, regardless of the winner, the quorum had already been reached, meaning that FECH will have a president again.