The Chilean government denied presidential candidacy to Mapuche leader Aucán Huilcamán on September 16. Huilcamán was an independent candidate representing the Popular Indigenous Network, and had collected 39,100 signatures—nearly 4,000 more than the requisite number needed to be in compliance with article 13 of the Chilean constitution. However, the law also stipulates that all signatures must be authorized by notaries, a directive that Huilcamán was unable to complete. According to the Mapuche newspaper Azkintuwe, Huilcamán said, "the notaries denied authorizing signatures for me, they charged me excessively high prices, and they only allowed me a period of one hour to collect the signatures."
After meeting with various officials from different political parties who offered their support, Huilcamán announced on September 20 that he would fight for the approbation of a unique law that would allow him to become a candidate, despite the government’s initial objections. The new law would be similar to the one used by the Christian Democratic Party in 2001. According to Azkintuwe, Huilcamán declared, "We are not asking for anything exceptional, it’s been done before. If the Christian Democrats could participate thanks to a national agreement, why not the indigenous? I don’t want to believe that in this country there exists apartheid against the indigneous."
