Chile's Bachelet favored to win presidency

Seven other candidates trailed, although independents Franco Parisi and Marco Enriquez-Ominami were gaining ground on the right and left.

Chileans also will choose 120 members of the lower House of Congress and 20 out of 38 Senate seats on Sunday.

Unfortunately for Bachelet, her New Majority coalition won't be able to secure more seats unless it wins at least two-thirds of the votes in each district, under Pinochet's “binomial” electoral system, which was designed to frustrate change.