Socialist Michelle Bachelet won a first round of Chile's presidential race Sunday, with voters putting her on track to replace a conservative, early returns showed.

Michelle Bachelet waves to her supporters at a polling station in Santiago, capital of Chile, on Nov. 17, 2013. Michelle Bachelet, candidate of the opposition center-left New Majority coalition and ex-president, won Chile's presidential elections Sunday, the Electoral Service announced. (Xinhua/Jorge Villegas)

Bachelet, Chile's first woman president who worked as the head of UN Women after her first term in office, is now eyeing a potential non-consecutive second term as the leader of the South American nation with the highest per capita income.

Bachelet was leading with 46.42 percent of the vote against conservative Evelyn Matthei, at 25.26 percent, with 34.4 percent of the votes tallied.

If Bachelet, who is seeking to succeed conservative billionaire President Sebastian Pinera, does not get over 50 percent of the ballots, a run-off -- also the country's first between two women -- will be held December 15.

Matthei and Bachelet were trailed by independent economist Franco Parisi with 11.07 percent and Socialist Franco-Chilean filmmaker Marco Enriquez-Ominami, with 10.73 percent, the early returns showed about half an hour after polls closed.

Source: AFP