Santiago de Chile, October 24 (RHC)-- Polls closed in Chile's in municipal elections Sunday, ahead of the presidential race next year, with the opposition leading the vote according to preliminary results issued with 20 percent of the vote counted, while the abstention rate was 60 percent. 

Some 14.1 million voters were eligible to cast ballots in the elections, with 236 mayoral posts and 2,240 council seats up for grabs.  Electoral authorities stated that the right-wing coalition Chile Vamos received 39.75 percent of the vote, including in the capital of Santiago, while the governing center-left coalition Nueva Mayoria obtained 38.04 percent of the vote. 

Since 2012 when the mandatory voting law was lifted, voter turnout has plummeted, with 40 percent of the eligible population voting in presidential elections that year.