MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Uruguayans went to the polls on Sunday for a second round of voting to choose their next president. The ruling conservative party and left-wing coalition faced a tight runoff after failing to secure an absolute majority in last month’s vote.

Those calm elections turned into a hotly contested race between Álvaro Delgado, the incumbent party candidate, and Yamandú Orsi, of the Broad Front, a coalition of left and center-left parties that governed for 15 years until the victory of the center-right in 2019. President Luis Lacalle Pou. The Broad Front has overseen the legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana in this small, laid-back South American country of 3.4 million people.

Orsi’s Broad Front received 44% of the vote, while Delgado’s National Party received 27% in the first round of voting on October 27. But the other conservative parties that make up the government coalition, in particular the Colorado Party, obtained 20% of the votes. vote collectively, enough to give Delgado an edge over his challenger this time around.

Congress found itself evenly divided in the October vote. Most polls have shown a virtual tie between Delgado and Orsi, with almost 10% of Uruguayan voters undecided even at this late stage.

Analysts say the candidates’ lackluster campaigns and broad consensus on key issues have generated extraordinary indecision and apathy during an election dominated by discussions of social spending and concerns about growing income inequality, but largely free of the anti-establishment rage that propelled foreign populists to power. elsewhere.

“The question of whether the Frente Amplio (the Broad Front) will raise taxes is not an existential question, unlike what we have seen in the United States, with Trump and Kamala presenting each other as threats to democracy ” said Nicolás Saldías, a senior official from Latin America and the Caribbean. analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, based in London. “It doesn’t exist in Uruguay.”

Both candidates also appeal to voters’ anxiety over a surge in violent crime that has roiled a country long considered one of the region’s safest and most stable. Delgado promises tough-on-crime policies and a new maximum-security prison while Orsi advocates a community-based approach to crime prevention.

Delgado, 55, a rural veterinarian with a long career in the National Party, campaigned on a promise to carry on the legacy of current President Lacalle Pou – making the election a sort of referendum on his leadership. He campaigned under the slogan “re-elect a good government”.

While a series of corruption scandals briefly shook Lacalle Pou’s government last year, the president – ​​who constitutionally cannot run for a second consecutive term – now enjoys high popularity ratings and of a strong economy that is expected to grow 3.2% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. . Inflation has also eased in recent months, strengthening his coalition.

Delgado recently served as secretary to Lacalle Pou’s presidency and promises to continue his predecessor’s pro-business, market-friendly policies. He would continue to pursue a possible trade deal with China that has raised concerns within Mercosur, an alliance of South American countries that promotes regional trade.

Orsi, 57, a former history teacher and twice mayor from a working-class background, is widely seen as the heir to the famous former president José “Pepe” Mujica, a former Marxist guerrilla who boosted the image of Uruguay as one of the most important countries in the region. socially liberal and environmentally sustainable nations during his 2010-2015 term.

Mujica, now 89 and recovering from esophageal cancer, was among the first to vote after voting opened.

“When it comes to governing, with the parliamentary structure that we will have, the government will be forced to negotiate,” he told journalists as he left his local polling station, praising the solid and balanced democracy of Uruguay as “a significant thing”. » in Latin America.

While promising to forge a “new left” in Uruguay, Orsi does not foresee any radical changes. He proposes tax incentives to attract investment and social security reforms that would buck the demographic trend by lowering the retirement age, but which fall short of the radical overhaul desired by Uruguay’s unions.

The controversial plebiscite on whether to increase pension payments failed in October, with Uruguayans rejecting generous pensions in favor of budget constraints.

“These are normal elections, which is rare,” Saldías said. “This is a testament to Uruguay’s strength as a democracy.”

Batschke writes for the Associated Press. AP Writer Isabel DeBre in Villa Tunari, Bolivia, contributed to this report.