The ULS Electoral Board met to proceed to qualify the validity of all the votes cast, reporting that the current Rector of the state campus was re-elected to the position after obtaining 50,18% of the votes, surpassing the candidate, Dr. Marco Corgini , who reached 49,82%.

Dr. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro was re-elected as Rector of the University of La Serena for the next four years (2018-2022), after obtaining 50,18% of the votes and surpassing the candidate, Dr. Marco Corgini Videla, Director of the Department of Mathematics.

The ULS Electoral Board met this Thursday, August 30, to proceed with another count and qualify the validity of all the votes cast, reporting that the current Rector of the state campus obtained 418 votes in favor, while Dr. Corgini reached 415 votes. The blank votes were 3 and the null votes were 9.

Dr. Nibaldo Avilés expressed his satisfaction with the re-election in office and highlighted the development of the electoral process, which he described as “free and transparent” and marked by a high and enthusiastic voter participation. Furthermore, he specified that “in the short term the University of La Serena will have to face important tasks, including institutional accreditation under the new criteria and standards; the pigeonholing project already approved by the Honorable Board of Directors, a matter in which we already have experience and which obviously goes through a restructuring; and a new statute for the institution.”

Likewise, he indicated that the feasibility, mainly economic, of the program proposals of those who supported the other candidacy will be considered and analyzed, such as, for example, the creation of a Vice-Rector's Office for Management and Liaison, of a Faculty of Sciences of Health and a Faculty of Arts and Architecture. And, finally, he called on the university community to continue working together for a higher-level, inclusive and democratic University.

For her part, the president of the ULS Electoral Board, Mirtha Meléndez, stated that on this day the vote is ratified, after the full Board convened and made public the count of all the votes, the envelopes and will verify that everything matches the information provided by each table and its members.

The Rector election process for the 2018-2022 period took place on Wednesday, August 29, from 08:30 a.m. to 16:30 p.m., in the Pentagon Room of the ULS, and was characterized by its tranquility and high attendance at the polls. “The process was super successful from the point of view of organization, administration and respect, it was very orderly and respectful. And the other thing is that the number of voters was impressive, 95% of people came to vote,” highlighted the president of the Electoral Board.