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Bachelet, voting
in the upper-middle class Santiago neighborhood of La Reina,
first forgot to grab her national identification card from poll
workers after casting her vote.
She retrieved the ID from the voting area and then walked
outside to address journalists. However, Bachelet had to return
to the booth again to sign a voter registry as required by law,
after failing to do so in previous voting attempts.
"I missed you all very much," Bachelet joked to the poll
workers.
Bachelet later told reporters the worker in charge of the poll
where she voted became nervous and forgot to present her with
the registry to sign. The poll worker in question gave the same
account.
The episode proved amusing to local media with national
newspaper La Tercera saying it was "as unusual, as it was
embarrassing."
In Chile's local elections for mayors and councilors, the right
is set to make gains against Bachelet's center-left governing
coalition, which could provide a boost for the right in next
year's presidential and parliamentary elections.
However, high abstention rates by Chileans disenchanted by a
string of political corruption scandals in the South American
nation have made exact predictions difficult.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Bill Trott)
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