Results from the first-round general elections in Uruguay leave three general tendencies that will weigh heavily on November 24, when the country goes to the polls to decide whether it will join its neighbors in legitimizing an ascendant far right.

The first takeaway from the October 27 general elections has been the decline of the governing center-left Broad Front (Frente Amplio). The coalition that for fifteen years oversaw some of the most progressive social policy in Latin America is currently trailing the conservative National Party (Partido Nacional) in the polls.

Second, a controversial constitutional reform known as “Vivir Sin Miedo” (Live Without Fear) was narrowly voted down, although the law-and-order proposal, which would grant expanded military jurisdiction over civilian security, enjoyed nearly 47 percent popular support and augurs a general shift in public opinion toward the right.