In addition to being Chile’s first woman president, Bachelet is the first president since 1938 to be elected to a second term, and her margin of victory – 62% to 38% – over the right-wing candidate, Evelyn Matthei, set a new record. But the high abstention rate in this election – the first with automatic registration and non-mandatory voting – also means that Bachelet will become President with fewer votes than any of her predecessors since democracy was restored in 1990.