Chile is headed for a polarized presidential election runoff next month as hard-right former congressman Jose Antonio Kast finished on top in the first-round vote on Sunday, ahead of leftist lawmaker and former protest leader Gabriel Boric.

With over 90 percent of the vote counted, Kast had won 28.01 percent versus 25.64 percent for Boric, with a sizable gap between them and the rest of the field, although both were well short of the majority needed to win outright.